She was born as Mayde Feruhhan in 1907 in
Istanbul,
Turkey. She was the granddaughter of artist and designer Simon Dadyan and a descendant of Nazik Balyan and the
Balyan family of architects. She married painter
Şemsi Arel in 1935, the son of her painting professor Mehmet Ruhi Arel. During her early career, her first period of paintings were primarily landscapes, and her work changed to abstraction after her return to Europe. She died on 9 February 1997, and is buried in Istanbul, Turkey. == References ==