Altina Schinasi

Altina Schinasi (August 4, 1907 – August 19, 1999) was an American sculptor, filmmaker, actress, entrepreneur, window dresser, designer, and inventor. She was known for designing what she called the "Harlequin eyeglass frame", popularly known as cat-eye glasses.

Early life

Altina Schinasi was the youngest child born to the Schinasi family in the US. Her father, Morris Schinasi, was a Sephardic Jew born in Manisa, Turkey whose wealth stemmed from the international fine tobacco business. Altina's mother, Laurette Schinasi née Ben Rubi, the granddaughter of Schinasi's business associate Joseph Ben Rubi, was a native of Salonica, then in the Ottoman Empire. Altina was born at the Schinasi Mansion on Manhattan's Upper West Side on August 4, 1907. After being tutored at home, Altina attended Horace Mann School and at the age of twelve left home to board at Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Upon Morris Schinasi's death in 1928, his widow Laurette Schinasi travelled to Manisa, Turkey to establish Moris Sinasi Çocuk Hastahanesi, or Moris Sinasi Children's Hospital in the city of her late husband's birth. It remains in operation today. Laurette took Altina and her sister to Paris shortly after her graduation from Dana Hall. There, Altina studied painting with her cousin, René Bensussan. While spending more time with Bensussan, she developed a deeper appreciation for art, and as a result, Altina chose to attend art school rather than college when she returned to the United States. In New York, Altina studied with Samuel Halpert at the Roerich Museum.

In 1928, Altina Schinasi married her first husband, noted architect Morris B. Sanders Jr., in a home ceremony that was featured in Architect magazine. They would have two sons, Terry Sanders and Denis Sanders, both of whom would become film directors.