Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha

Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: حسین حلمی پاشا Turkish: Hüseyin Hilmi Paşa, also spelled Hussein Hilmi Pasha) (1 April 1855 – 1922) was an Ottoman statesman and imperial administrator. He was twice the Grand Vizier[1] of the Ottoman Empire around the time of the Second Constitutional Era. He was also one-time president of the Turkish Red Crescent.[2]

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Hüseyin Hilmi, the title is Pasha, and there is no family name.
Hüseyin Hilmi
Pasha
Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha as Ottoman Inspector General of Macedonia, photograph taken between 1903 and 1908.
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office
14 February 1909 – 13 April 1909
MonarchAbdul Hamid II
Preceded byKâmil Pasha
Succeeded byAhmet Tevfik Pasha
In office
5 May 1909 – 12 January 1910
MonarchMehmed V
Preceded byAhmet Tevfik Pasha
Succeeded byIbrahim Hakki Pasha
Minister of the Interior
In office
1908–1909
Inspectorate-General of Macedonia
In office
1902–1908
Ambassador to Austria-Hungary
In office
1912–1918
Personal details
Born(1855-04-01)1 April 1855
Midilli, Eyalet of the Archipelago, Ottoman Empire
Died1922(1922-00-00) (aged 66–67)
Vienna, Austria
NationalityOttoman

Hüseyin Hilmi was one of the most successful Ottoman administrators in the explosive Balkans of the early 20th century, becoming the Ottoman Inspectorate-General of Macedonia[3] from 1902 to 1908, Minister of the Interior[4] from 1908 to 1909, and ambassador to Austria-Hungary[5] from 1912 to 1918. He is often regarded, along with Ahmet Rıza Bey and Hasan Fehmi Pasha, as one of the leading statesmen who encouraged and propagated further progressivism.

Biography

Hüseyin Hilmi was born in September 1855 in Midilli, in the district of Sarlıca.[6] He was the son of Kütahyalızade Tüccar Mustafa Efendi, who was from a family of merchants originating from Kütahya and have settled in the island when Hüseyin Hilmi's grandfather made the move into the island.[6][7] He was of partial Greek ancestry,[8][9] an ancestor had converted to Islam.[10][11] He did his primary studies in Lesbos and learned fluent French at an early age. He started out as a clerk in the Ottoman state structure and gradually climbed the ladder of the hierarchy, becoming the governor of Adana in 1897 and of Yemen in 1902. That same year in 1902, he was appointed Inspectorate-General with responsibility over virtually all of the Balkan territories of the Ottoman Empire at the time, namely the vilayets of Salonica, Kosovo and Manastir.

After the 1908 revolution, he was appointed as Minister of the Interior and then served as Grand Vizier, at first between February 14, 1909, and April 13, 1909, under Abdul Hamid II and then, reassuming the post from Ahmet Tevfik Pasha a month later, between May 5, 1909, and December 28, 1909. As such, in his first vizierate, he was the last grand vizier of Abdul Hamid II. His first term was suddenly interrupted because of the 31 March Incident (which actually occurred on April 13), when for a few days, reactionary absolutists and Islamic fundamentalists took back control of the Ottoman government in Constantinople until the arrival of an army from Salonica that suppressed the attempted countercoup.

After his second term as grand vizier under Mehmed V, Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha served as the Minister of Justice in the succeeding Ahmed Muhtar Pasha cabinet. In October 1912, he was sent to Vienna as the Ottoman ambassador to Austria-Hungary, a position he held until the end of World War I. Due to health problems, he remained in Vienna until his death in 1922. He was buried in Beşiktaş, Istanbul.

See also

References
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  1. Archivum ottomanicum v. 23. Mouton. 2006. p. 272. Hüseyin Hilmi (1855-1923), who was to become Grand Vezir twice in 1909
  2. Trivedi, Raj Kumar (1994). The critical triangle: India, Britain, and Turkey, 1908-1924. Publication Scheme. p. 77. OCLC 31173524. the Ottoman Red Crescent Society of which Hilmi Pasha was the head, which he said, utilized their money for the purpose for which it had been contributed by Muslims in India.
  3. Kent, Marian (1996). The Great Powers and the End of the Ottoman Empire. Routledge. p. 227. ISBN 0-7146-4154-5. Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha (1855-1923) (Ottoman Inspector-General of Macedonia, 1902-8
  4. Kent, Marian (1996). The Great Powers and the End of the Ottoman Empire. Routledge. p. 227. ISBN 0-7146-4154-5. Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha (1855-1923) Minister for the Interior, 1908-9)
  5. Kent, Marian (1996). The Great Powers and the End of the Ottoman Empire. Routledge. p. 227. ISBN 0-7146-4154-5. Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha (1855-1923) Ambassador to Vienna, 1912-18
  6. Aksun, Ziya Nur (2010). II. Abdülhamid Han. Ötüken. p. 149. ISBN 978-975437-751-4. Sadrazam Hüseyin Hilmi Paşa, tüccardan Kütahyalı-zâde Mustafa Efendi'nin oğlu olup, 1855 târihinde Midilli adasının Sarlice kariyesinin Şiryâne köyünde doğmuştur.
  7. Uzunçarşılı, İsmail Hakkı (1932). Kütahya Şehri. İstanbul Devlet Matbaası. p. 247. Hüseyin Hilmi Paşa, Kütahyalı zade tüccar Mustafa Efendinin oğlu olup 1855 Eylül senesinde Midilli'de doğmuştur. Büyük babası berayi ticaret Midilli'de ikamet ettiğinden babası da orada kalmıştır.
  8. Abbott, George Frederick (1909). Turkey in transition. E. Arnold. p. 149. OCLC 2355821. For Hilmi is a novus homo. A native of Mytilene, of obscure origin, partly Greek, he began his career as secretary to Kemal Bey
  9. Wheeler, Edward J, ed. (1909). Current Literature. Current Literature Pub. Co. p. 389. OCLC 4604506. His Excellency Hussein Hilmi Pacha is a Turk "of the isles." The politest Turks of all come from the isles. There is also Greek blood in his veins
  10. Prothero, George Walter (1920). Peace Handbooks: The Balkan states. H. M. Stationery Office. p. 45. OCLC 4694680. Hussein Hilmi Pasha, descended from a Greek convert to Islam in the island of Mitylene, was sent to Macedonia as High Commissioner.
  11. Great Britain. Foreign Office. Historical Section (1920). Handbooks prepared under the direction of the Historical section of the foreign office. H.M. Stationery off. p. 45. OCLC 27784113. Hussein Hilmi Pasha, descended from a Greek convert to Islam in the island of Mitylene, was sent to Macedonia as High Commissioner.


  • Emine Onhan Evered, "An educational prescription for the Sultan: Huseyin hilmi pasa's advice for the maladies of empire," Middle Eastern Studies, 43,3 (2007), 439–459.
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