The İskenderoğlu Family

Kebapçı İskender Efendi, Son of Mehmet

İskender Efendi was born in the mid-19th century in Bursa, one of the ancient cities of the Ottoman Empire. His father, Mehmet Efendi, was a tradesman known for his skill in butchery and meat preparation. İskender Efendi therefore grew up learning about both meat and fire from an early age.

At the time, lamb was roasted whole on a horizontal spit. This method, however, prevented the flavours of the different cuts from being shared evenly. With his father’s support, İskender Efendi sought a new approach. He threaded meat stripped of bones and sinews onto a spit, placed it vertically beside a charcoal fire and allowed it to cook as it turned. He then sliced the meat thinly and served it to his customers.

This innovation soon attracted great interest in Bursa’s Kayhan Bazaar. Initially known as ‘dönen kebap’, or ‘turning kebab’, the method gradually came to be called ‘döner kebap’. İskender Efendi’s name became legendary alongside his invention.

A modest and honest tradesman, İskender Efendi was remembered not only for his meat but also for his approach to hospitality. He was a master craftsman who never served his customers food that he would not eat himself, and who chose his ingredients with great care. His principles continued Anatolia’s deeply rooted Akhism guild tradition.

When the Surname Law was introduced in 1934, his sons adopted the surname ‘İskenderoğlu’. That name has lived on alongside the family’s craft for five generations.

At the end of his life, İskender Efendi was laid to rest in Bursa’s Emirsultan Cemetery. He left behind not merely a dish, but a legacy that would endure for generations. Today, ‘İskender’ is among the best-known kebabs in Türkiye and around the world; above all, however, it lives on as a symbol of a family’s honest labour and craftsmanship.

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Nurettin Beyefendi, Son of Kebapçı İskender

2nd Generation

Nurettin, son of İskender and the eldest of the three sons of Kebapçı İSKENDER Efendi, son of Mehmet, left Kayhan in the late 1930s to move to his new shop on Atatürk Avenue. His brother Süleyman, son of İskender — our father and grandfather — took charge of the original historic family shop in Kayhan. Like his brothers, our uncle Nurettin remained at work throughout his life. He had no children, and on his death in 1967 he left his shop to our uncle Cevat, his youngest brother, with whom he had worked.

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Süleyman Beyefendi, Son of Kebapçı İskender

2nd Generation

Süleyman, son of İskender and the middle of the three sons of Kebapçı İSKENDER Efendi, son of Mehmet, took charge of the original family shop in Kayhan in the 1930s, while his elder brother Nurettin and younger brother Cevat moved to their new shop on Atatürk Avenue. He remained at the helm throughout his life. After his untimely death in 1965, his sons İskender, Fahri and Yavuz İskenderoğlu took up the mantle. Today, the three brothers, their children and grandchildren continue their grandfather’s craft across five generations, keeping the fire alive at the same hearth with the same flavour, quality, principles and love as on the first day.

This photograph was taken in 1936 by the renowned Russian photographer Nicholas V. Artamanoff. The original is held in a special collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Standing in the foreground in his peştemal apron is Süleyman İskenderoğlu, son of Kebapçı İskender and father of Yavuz İskenderoğlu. The setting is Kebapçı İskender’s first shop, beside Kayhan Mosque in Bursa.

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Yavuz İskenderoğlu, son of Süleyman

3rd Generation

Yavuz İskenderoğlu was born in Bursa in 1949. He is the third son of Süleyman İskenderoğlu, the middle son of İskender Efendi, son of Mehmet. He attended Bursa Atatürk Primary School, Bursa College and Bursa Commercial High School, before completing his higher education in the Department of Accounting and Business Administration at the Istanbul Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences in 1972. In 1974, he completed his master’s degree in Business Administration at Aston University in Birmingham.

After his apprenticeship in the family shop in Kayhan, the untimely death of his father, Master Süleyman, and his elder brothers’ military service led him to put on the master’s peştemal apron and assume both practical and formal responsibility for the business at the age of fifteen. Ever since, Yavuz İskenderoğlu has made building the İSKENDER brand and introducing it to the world his life’s work, dedicating all he has to the business and to Bursa. Today, he continues to work at his hearth, still wearing his peştemal.

Yavuz İskenderoğlu enjoys a happy and exemplary marriage to Türkan Hanım. They have two sons, Oğuzhan and Kayhan İskender, and a young granddaughter named S. Lara Aleksandra İskenderoğlu.

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Oğuzhan İskenderoğlu, son of Yavuz

4th Generation

Born in Bursa in 1986, Oğuzhan İskenderoğlu completed his primary education at Özel İnal-Ertekin Primary School and his secondary education at The American School in Switzerland (TASIS). Following the Business Foundation Degree programme at Bellerbys College in Oxford, he graduated with honours in Marketing from the University of Greenwich. He then completed a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing – Brand Management at New York University (NYU), again with honours.

Beginning his apprenticeship at a young age, Oğuzhan İskenderoğlu worked through every stage of the family craft before taking his place at the helm as a master shaped by both practical experience and formal education.

He is married to Dina Mityushova-İskenderoğlu, and they have a daughter named S. Lara Aleksandra.

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Kayhan İskender İskenderoğlu, son of Yavuz

4th Generation

Born in Bursa in 1989, Kayhan İskenderoğlu completed his primary education at Özel İnal-Ertekin Primary School in Bursa. He moved to Switzerland for his secondary education at Institut auf dem Rosenberg. He went on to successfully complete a BA (Hons) in Global Business Management and Sustainability at Regent’s University London in England.

Raised within the family craft from childhood, Kayhan İskenderoğlu began his working life as an apprentice, like his father and elder brother. He progressed through every stage, attained mastery and earned the right to wear the peştemal apron. Drawing on both his academic knowledge and practical experience, he takes an active role in the future of the family business, with responsibility for the financial management of the İskender brand.

Today, he continues to work alongside his family, carrying İskender’s traditions forward while meeting the needs of the times.

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