Raghib Pasha

Raghib Pasha
Prime Minister of Egypt
Reign	18 June 1882 – 21 August 1882
Predecessor	Urabi Pasha
Successor	Muhammad Sharif Pasha
Born	1819 Chios, Greece
Died	1884 Egypt

Isma'il ibn Ahmad ibn Hassan bani Yani (Arabic: إسماعيل بن أحمد بن حسن بني يني‎), known simply as Isma'il Ragheb Pasha (Arabic: إسماعيل راغب باشا‎) (1819–1884), was a Greek Ottoman politician who served as Prime Minister of Egypt^[1] and held several other high-ranking government positions.

Isma'il Ragheb was of Greek ancestry^[2][3][4][5] and was born in Greece^[6] on 18 August 1819 on either the island of Chios following the great Massacre^[7] or Candia^[8] Crete. After being kidnapped to Anatolia he was brought to Egypt as a slave by Ibrahim Pasha in 1830^[9] and was converted to Islam. Immediately following his arrival, he studied at al-Maktab al-Amiri and obtained his advanced degree in 1834. He was fluent in Greek^[10] and was elevated to the rank of First Lieutenant by Egypt's viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha. In 1836, he became head of the Accounting and Revenue Agencies. He was promoted to the rank of bikbashi (Lieutenant Colonel) in 1840, then kaymakam (Colonel) in 1844, and finally amiralay (Brigadier General) in 1846.

He held the positions of Minister of Finance (1858–1860), then Minister of War (1860–1861). He became Inspector for the Maritime Provinces in 1862, and later Assistant (Arabic: باشمعاون‎) to viceroy Isma'il Pasha (1863–1865). He was granted the title of beylerbey and then appointed President of the Privy council in 1868. He was appointed President of the Chamber of Deputies (1866–1867), then Minister of Interior in 1867, then Minister of Agriculture and Trade in 1875. He again held the Finance portfolio in Muhammad Sharif Pasha's first government (1879). After the fall of Mahmoud Sami el-Baroudi's government, Isma'il Ragheb became Prime Minister of Egypt in 1882. Although his government was short-lived (it lasted from 17 June to 21 August only), it was the only one to present concrete programs. His achievements include the modernisation of the budget through the inventory of revenues and expenses, the Law on Salaries, the La'eha Sa'ideyya as well as several agricultural laws.

Isma'il Ragheb died in 1884.

References

1. Mohamed, Duse (1911). In the land of the pharaohs: a short history of Egypt from the fall of Ismail to the assassination of Boutros Pasha. D. Appleton and company. p. xii. OCLC 301095947. PRIME MINISTERS * Ragheb Pasha was Prime Minister from July 12, 1882
2. Vizetelly, Edward (1901). From Cyprus to Zanzibar, by the Egyptian delta: the adventures of a journalist in the isle of love, the home of miracles, and the land of cloves. C.A. Pearson. p. 118. OCLC 81708788. This Ragheb Pasha, a decrepit old man with a reputation of venality, was of Greek extraction, and had originally been a Greek slave.
3. The Nineteenth century, Volume 13. Henry S. King & Co. 1883. p. 121. OCLC 30055032. Ragheb Bey, as I knew him first, was a Candiote, a Mussulman of Greek origin, and gifted with the financial cunning of his race. He began political life in Egypt under Said Pasha, as an employe in the financial department where he was speedily promoted to a high…
4. ‘Izz al-‘Arab, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz (2002). European control and Egypt's traditional elites: a case study in elite economic nationalism Volume 15 of Mellen studies in economics. Edwin Mellen Press. p. 59. ISBN 0-7734-6936-2. Isma'il Pasha Raghib and al-Shaykh al-Bakri. Raghib was an established figure in the state administrative machinery, who came from Greek origins, and who had held various portfolios in finance and served as President of the first Majlis Shura al-Nuwwab in 1866.
5. Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen (1980). Secret history of the English occupation of Egypt: being a personal narrative of events Volume 2 of Centenary of the Arabi revolution 1881-1981. Arab Centre for Research and Publishing. OCLC 7840850. Ragheb Pasha is (as mentioned by Ninet) of Greek descent, though a Moslem
6. Schölch, Alexander (1981). Egypt for the Egyptians!: the socio-political crisis in Egypt, 1878-1882. Ithaca Press. p. 326. ISBN 0-903729-82-2. Isma'il Raghib was born in Greece in 1819; the sources differ over his homeland. After first being kidnapped to Anatolia, he was brought as a slave to Egypt in 1246 (1830/1), by Ibrahim Pasha, and there he was ‘converted’ from Christianity
7. James Carlile McCoan (1898). Egypt. P. F. Collier. p. 102. OCLC 5663869. Raghib Pasha, the new Minister — by birth a Sciote Greek, sold into Egypt after the massacre of 1822 — is said to be an able administrator, and enjoys a high personal character
8. The Nineteenth century, Volume 13. Henry S. King & Co. 1883. p. 121. OCLC 30055032. Ragheb Bey, as I knew him first, was a Candiote, a Mussulman of Greek origin
9. Schölch, Alexander (1981). Egypt for the Egyptians!: the socio-political crisis in Egypt, 1878-1882. Ithaca Press. p. 326. ISBN 0-903729-82-2. Isma'il Raghib …After first being kidnapped to Anatolia, he was brought as a slave to Egypt in 1246 (1830/1), by Ibrahim Pasha, and there he was ‘converted’ from Christianity
10. Hunter, F. Robert (1999). Egypt under the khedives, 1805-1879: from household government to modern bureaucracy. American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 218. ISBN 977-424-544-X. Ismail Raghib was too old and knew no European languages except Greek

• "Isma'il Pasha Ragheb". Memory of Modern Egypt Digital Archive (in Arabic). Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Retrieved 2009-04-04.