Munir Ertegun was a Turkish legal counsel in international law to the "Sublime Porte" of the late Ottoman Empire and a diplomat of the Republic of Turkey during its early years. Ertegun married Emine Hayrünnisa Rüstem in 1917 and the couple had three children, two of whom were Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertegun, the brothers who founded Atlantic Records and became iconic figures in the American music industry.
Ertegun in 1942
The Turkish Ambassador to Washington, Münir Ertegün and his family, including his sons Ahmet Ertegün (left) and Nesuhi Ertegün (right), and his daughter, Selma (middle) in February 1942
Nesuhi Ertegun was a Turkish-American record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International.
Nesuhi Ertegun
Nesuhi Ertegun (right) and his brother Ahmet Ertegun in the record room at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. (around 1940)
Ertegun's first credit on a record appeared in December 1942 on Jazz Man Records, a label he later purchased
Ertegun founded his first label, Crescent Records, with the express purpose of recording Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band (August 1944)