Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey (Painter)
Mehmet Ruhi Arel (Rouhi, Mehmet Ruhi Bey) (1880–1931) had trained as a naval architect and shipbuilding engineer but chose to become a painter. He studied design and watercolor painting in Constantinople at the Turkish Academy and in Paris at L'École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He was the founder of the Ottoman Painters Society (Osmanlı Ressamlar Cemiyeti).