halpir was born near navahrudak, grand duchy of lithuania, to the family of joachim rusiecki of petty nobility. at the age of 14 she was married off to a german lutheran oculist dr. jacob halpir. the couple moved to constantinople, ottoman empire, where dr. halpir practiced medicine and had many clients while facing cut-throat competition from jewish and muslim doctors. despite, or perhaps because of, her being a poorly educated christian woman in an islamic country, halpir was trained by her husband and assisted him in his operations eventually becoming an accomplished physician herself, with a specialty in cataract surgery. her status as a female helped her find a niche serving female patients and her status as a foreigner helped her skirt islamic traditions that severely limited women's freedom. halpir never received any formal training in medicine.