Zhana Solomonova with friends

This is my mother Zhana Solomonova, nee Almalech, with friends of hers. My mother is the first from left. The photo was taken in Stara Zagora in 1922. My mother was born in 1900 in Stara Zagora. She had elementary education. She had one sister, Rosa Danish Mitrani, nee Almalech. My mother was very well read and musical. She could speak about operas and operettas, and I still keep wondering - how come this woman was so well informed in her young years? It remains a mystery to me. She read a lot. I learned from her about the literature classics - the Russians like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky as well as Western European ones ... My mother wasn't highly educated, but she was clever. My father's cousin Shapat introduced my mother and father to one another. They got married in 1924 and in 1925 my sister Suzi Sami Eshkenazi, nee Solomonova, was born. My mother was a Zionist and my father wasn't happy with that. She was a member of WIZO, which was involved in educational and charity activities. After 9th September 1944 the organization ceased to exist.