Ahmed Vefik Pasha

Ahmed Vefik Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: احمد وفیق پاشا) (3 July 1823  – 2 April 1891) was an Ottoman statesman, diplomat, scholar, playwright, and translator during the Tanzimat and First Constitutional Era periods.[1] He was commissioned with top-rank governmental duties, including presiding over the first Ottoman Parliament in 1877.[1] He also served as Grand Vizier for two brief periods. He also established the first Ottoman theatre[1] and initiated the first Western style theatre plays in Bursa and translated Molière's major works. His portrait was depicted on the Turkish postcard stamp dated 1966.[2]

Ahmed Vefik
Pasha
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office
4 February 1878 – 18 April 1878
MonarchAbdul Hamid II
Preceded byAhmed Hamdi Pasha
Succeeded byMehmed Sadık Pasha
In office
1 December 1882 – 3 December 1882
MonarchAbdul Hamid II
Preceded byMehmed Sadık Pasha
Succeeded byMehmed Said Pasha
Personal details
Born3 July 1823
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died2 April 1891(1891-04-02) (aged 67)
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
NationalityOttoman

Biography

Ahmed Vefik Pasha was born of Greek extraction,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] his ancestors having previously converted to Islam, like many other Greek Muslims particularly from Crete (Cretan Turks) and Southern Macedonia in what is now northwestern Republic of Greece (see Vallahades).[3] He started his education in 1831 in Constantinople and later went to Paris with his family, where he graduated from Saint Louis College.

In 1844 Ahmed Vefik was appointed to review claims of special exemptions from the jizya tax. Under some agreements, European offcials had started to extend their extraterritorial privileges to "proteges" - Ottoman Christians of Maltese and Ionian origins. Concerned with the massive revenue loss from unpaid jizya taxes in Izmir province, where around two thirds of the tax had become uncollectable, Ahmed Vefik was chosen to assess over 1,500 claims of British protection.[10]

Ahmed Vefik became the Minister of Education of the Ottoman Empire and Grand Vizier two times. He built a theatre in Bursa when he was made the governor of the city. In 1860, he became the Ottoman ambassador to France. He wrote the first Turkish dictionary and is considered to be among the first Pan-Turkists.

References
  1. "Ahmed Vefik Paşa". Britannica. Ahmed Vefik Paşa Ottoman statesman and scholar born July 6, 1823, Constantinople [now Istanbul] died April 2, 1891, Constantinople. Ottoman statesman and scholar
  2. "Osmanlı Divan-ı Muhasebat Reisler" (PDF) (in Turkish). Sayistay. p. 3. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  3. Niyazi Berkes; Feroz Ahmad (1998). The development of secularism in Turkey. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 29. ISBN 1-85065-344-5. Ahmed Vefik Pasa (1823-91), the grandson of a Greek convert to Islam and the holder of several of the highest positions, was one of those interested in Ottoman studies.
  4. Sir Francis Galton (1864). Vacation tourists and notes of travel in 1860 [1861, 1962-3]. Macmillan. p. 91. OCLC 228708521. The statesman whom the Turks like best is Achmet Vefyk Effendi. Although a Greek by descent, he is a more orthodox Moslem than Fuad or Aali, and is the head of the reforming party, whose object is to bring about reform for the purpose of re-establishing the Turkish empire on the basis on which it stood in its palmy day, rather than adopt European customs.
  5. Desmond Stewart (1971). The Middle East: temple of Janus. Doubleday. p. 189. OCLC 135026. Ahmed Vefik Pasha was the grandson of a Greek convert to Islam.
  6. Austen Henry Layard; William Napier Bruce; Sir Arthur John Otway (1903). Sir A. Henry Layard, G.C.B., D.C.L. J. Murray. p. 93. OCLC 24585567. Fuad Pasha — unlike Ahmed Vefyk, who had Greek blood in his veins — was a pure Turk by descent.
  7. Pickthall, Marmaduke William; Islamic Culture Board; Asad, Muhammad (1975). Islamic culture. Islamic Culture Board - Hyderabad, Deccan. OCLC 1774508. Ahmad Vefik Pasha (grandson of a Greek convert) published influential works : Les Tuns Anciens et Modernes (1169) and Lahja-i-Osmani, respectively
  8. Macfie, A. L. (1998). The end of the Ottoman Empire, 1908-1923. Longman. p. 85. ISBN 0-582-28763-4. In 1876 Ahmed Vefik Pasha, the grandson of a Greek convert to Islam, and a keen student of Turkish customs, published the first Turkish-Ottoman dictionary
  9. Mohamed Taher (1997). Encyclopaedic survey of Islamic culture. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. p. 97. ISBN 81-7488-487-4. Ahmad Vefik Pasha) (grandson of a Greek convert) published influential works : Les Turcs Anciens et Modernes ( 1 1 69) and Lahja-i-Osmani, respectively
  10. Zandi-Sayek, Sibel. Ottoman Izmir: The Rise of a Cosmopolitan Port, 1840-1880. Minneapolis, United States: University of Minnesota Press. p. 62.

Further reading

Media related to Ahmed Vefik Pasha at Wikimedia Commons

  • Edgar Whitaker (1911). "Ahmed Vefik" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 432–433. This contains a more detailed biography, although comparison with the newer Encyclopædia Britannica entry suggests the information about his early life is in error.
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