With a history of more than 100 years, Kositaş Insurance is a pioneer of the Turkish insurance sector, providing services in all insurance branches, corporate and individual. Kositaş represents its customers with a "consumer-first" logic in the face of insurance companies during all stages; from the initial proposal to policy issuance and loss follow-up, determining potential risk factors thanks to its experienced professional staff.
David Josef Kohen took the representation of the German insurance company Victoria de Berlin in Thessaloniki, and the century long insurance adventure of the Kohen family began.
David J. Kohen, who settled in Istanbul, became the representative of Victoria de Berlin in the Ottoman Empire. Within a few years, he became the General Manager of the company.
David J. Kohen was appointed Managing Director of Victoria de Berlin in Paris for France and North Africa.
His son, Marko Kohen was appointed as General Manager of Victoria de Berlin in Turkey.
After Victoria de Berlin's dissolution of the Turkish office, Marko Kohen continued to work as an insurance agent, setting up his own company.
Our Honorary President David Kohen began working in his office at Karaköy Manhaym Han, with his father Marko Kohen.
David Kohen became a pioneer in realizing the first theft insurance and householder liability insurance policies in Turkey therefore contributing to the development of the sector in the country.
"Marko Kohen and Son Collective Company" was established in Union Han at Karaköy Bankalar Caddesi.
With the 4th generation of the family active in the insurance industry, the company has become Kositaş Insurance Agency Co. with a revamped corporate identity.
Kositaş Sigorta evolved from being an insurance agency to a local insurance "broker".
With the addition of the 5th generation to the team, three generations collaborate within the body of Kositaş Insurance to service its customers with a modern insurance mentality.
David Kohen, the third generation representative of a family that has been in the insurance business for more than a century, was born in Istanbul in 1924. After working as an insurance agent with his father Marko Kohen in Istanbul, he became the founding partner of "Marko Kohen and Son Collective Company" and established Kositaş Insurance in 1980 and continued his active business life until 2011.
His biographical book "DAVID KOHEN, the Master of Insurance: Five Generations Adventure of an Insurance Family" was written by Birant Yıldız and was introduced to the readers in 2015. From a historical and economic perspective, this book conveys the conditions under the insurance sector has developed in the world and in Turkey. The biography relates to many sectoral and historical issues while offering a view of the Ottoman and Turkish Insurance Sector and the deep ties the Kohen family has with it.
The old insurance policies and documents and the firemark collection were exhibited in the Ottoman Bank Museum in 2014. Under the sponsorship of Allianz Insurance, "What Hurts the Purse, Hurts the Soul: Insurance in the Ottoman Empire with Documents from the Collection of David M. Kohen" exhibition hosted history and insurance enthusiasts in 2009 with 33 insurance policies, 15 maps and 21 firemarks. The book that accompanied the exhibition, which was mainly based on David Kohen's private collection and on insurance in the Ottoman Empire, aims to explain the historical process based on the documents and objects of the period.
For nearly 20 years, David Kohen shared his sectoral know-how and points of view with the readers of Insurer's Magazine as a columnist.
Axa Insurance conducted a very special 9-episode interview series with David Kohen called "Traces of Insurance History". The collection of insurance documents collected by our Honorary President for more than 50 years has also been transferred to a digital environment. During the interviews, David Kohen shares documents he collected during his entire lifetime, his memories and sheds light to the history of insurance in Turkey while giving tips to the new generation of insurers.
