Ahmed Vefik Pasha

Ahmed Vefik Pasha Paşa
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office 4 February 1878 – 18 April 1878
Monarch	Abdul Hamid II
Preceded by	Ahmed Hamdi Pasha
Succeeded by	Mehmed Sadık Pasha
In office 1 December 1882 – 3 December 1882
Monarch	Abdul Hamid II
Preceded by	Mehmed Sadık Pasha
Succeeded by	Mehmed Said Pasha
Personal details
Born	3 July, 1823 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died	1891 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Nationality	Ottoman
Religion	Islam

Ahmed Vefik Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: احمد وفیق پاشا ‎) (3 July, 1823, Constantinople – 2 April, 1891, Constantinople), was a Greek-Ottoman statesman, diplomat, playwright, and translator of the Tanzimat and First Constitutional periods.^[1] He was commissioned with top-rank governmental duties, including presiding over the first Ottoman parliament in 1877.^[2] He also served as Grand Vizier for two brief periods. Vefik also established the first Ottoman theatre^[3] and initiated the first Western style theatre plays in Bursa and translated Molière's major works.

Ahmed Vefik Pasha, 1860

Biography

Ahmed Vefik Pasha was born of Greek extraction,^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]} his ancestors having previously converted to Islam, like many other Greek Muslims particularly from Crete (Cretan Turks) and the regions of Epirus and Greek Macedonia in northwestern Greece (see Vallahades).^[4] He started his education in 1831 in Constantinople and later went to Paris with his family, where he graduated from Saint Louis College.

When Ahmed Vefik became the ambassador to Tehran, he learned the Persian language. In Tehran, he was the first person to raise the Ottoman Empire's flag in an embassy. He declared the embassy soil a Turkish land and started this custom. Ahmed Vefik Pasha was a pioneer of the Pan-Turkism movement.

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 the first Turkist of Ottoman Turks.

References

1. "Ahmed Vefik Paşa". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2009-08-12. Ahmed Vefik Paşa Ottoman statesman and scholar born July 6, 1823, Constantinople [now Istanbul] died April 2, 1891, Constantinople. Ottoman statesman and scholar
2. "Ahmed Vefik Paşa". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2009-08-12. Ahmed Vefik Paşa Ottoman statesman and scholar born July 6, 1823, Constantinople [now Istanbul] died April 2, 1891, Constantinople… He presided over the first Ottoman Parliament (1877) and was twice appointed grand vizier (chief minister) for brief periods in 1878 and 1882.
3. "Ahmed Vefik Paşa". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2009-08-12. Ahmed Vefik Paşa Ottoman statesman and scholar born July 6, 1823, Constantinople [now Istanbul] died April 2, 1891, Constantinople....In 1879 he became the vali (governor) of Bursa, where he sponsored important reforms in sanitation, education, and agriculture and established the first Ottoman theatre.
4. Berkes, Niyazi – Ahmad, Feroz (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 Turkish studies.
5. Galton, Sir Francis (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.
6. Stewart, Desmond (1971). The Middle East: temple of Janus. Doubleday. p. 189. OCLC 135026. Ahmed Vefik Pasha was the grandson of a Greek convert to Islam.
7. Layard, Sir Austen Henry – Bruce, William Napier – Otway, Sir Arthur John (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.
8. 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
9. 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
10. Taher, Mohamed (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