Born in Istanbul in 1914, David Asseo attended the yeshiva in Hasköy, and then the Alliance Israélite Universelle School in the same suburb of Istanbul. Encouraged by Rabbi Isaac Behar Eliezer and supported by a scholarship provided by the B'nai B'rith lodge of Istanbul (Loge d’Orient), he continued his studies at the yeshiva of Rhodes. He graduated in 1933 with a diploma that enabled him to teach Hebrew and Jewish religious studies. Returning to Istanbul, he taught at the Jewish High School and published a Hebrew primer called ’Ani Lomed (Heb. I Am Learning).

In 1936, after serving in t…