Albert Confino

Born in Ottoman Carnabat (today Karnobat, Bulgaria), Albert Confino was educated at an Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU) school in Edirne. After graduating, Confino obtained his teaching certificate in Paris. He subsequently taught at AIU schools in Tunis, Tatar-Bazardjik (today Pazardzhik, Bulgaria), and Edirne before moving in 1901 to Isfahan (Iran) to be a principal. He was also appointed as the inspector of AIU schools across Persia. Relocating to head the AIU school in the Balat district of Istanbul in 1905, Confino later took up the position of school principal in Algiers (a position he held from 1912 to 1940), where for many decades he was active in local community politics, especially in working to counter rising antisemitism.