Kibrisli Mehmed Emin Pasha
Encyclopedia
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
statesman of Turkish Cypriot origin who served at the top post of grand vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
during three different times under the reign of the sultan Abdülmecid I
Abdülmecid I
Sultan Abdülmecid I, Abdul Mejid I, Abd-ul-Mejid I or Abd Al-Majid I Ghazi was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on July 2, 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories...
. His uncle was in charge of Mahmut 11's private treasury, secured him for palace service while he was young, and he then entered the Hassa regiment (1833–1834). He then studied abroad, in France,at the Sultan's expense. He served in a military capacity, as serasker, in Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
(1844–1845), Jerusalem (1845–1847), during which time he suppressed a serious Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
revolt, Tirnova (1847) and then Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
(1847–1848). During this period, many rumours circulated about his mismanagement practices, but they were dismissed by the Sultan as malicious gossip. He was appointed vezir in 1848
In 1850-1851 he served as governor of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
, at the end of which he was appointed müsir (Field marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
), in the province of Syria.
His periods of administration were, the first time between 29 May and 23 November 1854, the second time between 18 November 1859 and 24 December 1859 and for the last time between 28 May 1860 and 6 August 1861. As such, he was also the last great vizier of Abdülmecid. He is not to be confused with a notable and contemporary namesake, Emin Pasha
Emin Pasha
Mehmed Emin Pasha — he was born Isaak Eduard Schnitzer and baptized Eduard Carl Oscar Theodor Schnitzer — was a physician, naturalist, and governor of the Egyptian province of Equatoria on the upper Nile...
, the explorer of Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, a German Jewish possible convert
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
who had entered the service of the Ottoman Empire, or with other past notables of the same name.
Like many other prominent Ottoman statesmen of the Tanzimat
Tanzimat
The Tanzimât , meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. The Tanzimât reform era was characterized by various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire, to secure its territorial integrity against...
period, Mehmed Emin Pasha rose from the Dragoman
Dragoman
A dragoman was an interpreter, translator and official guide between Turkish, Arabic, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts...
's office, largely Turkified
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
by the 19th century, and climbing through the foreign office of the Ottoman Empire, held consecutive ambassadorial or governorship posts, also becoming grand vizier during three different periods.
Mehmed Emin Pasha died in his yalı in Kandilli, İstanbul, in 1881.
After his death, his first wife, Melek Hanım, wrote her memoirs of the harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
, in the 19th century context of that institution, as well as a controversial account of the high spheres of the Ottoman society, published in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1874, treating much the same period as the memoirs of Leyla Saz
Leyla Saz
Leyla Saz, also called Leyla Hanimefendi in her time, was a Turkish composer, poet and writer.Born in 1850 in Istanbul to a family of Ottoman aristocrats of Cretan Turkish origins, she was the daughter of İsmail Hakkı Pasha, Leyla Saz, also called Leyla Hanimefendi in her time, was a Turkish...
, written much later in the 1920s.