Ahmed Vefik Pasha

Ahmed Vefik Pasha, 1860

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

Biography

Ahmed Vefik Pasha was born of Greek extraction, 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). 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

Political offices
Preceded by Ahmed Hamdi Pasha	Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 4 February 1878 – 18 April 1878	Succeeded by Mehmed Sadık Pasha
Preceded by Mehmed Said Pasha	Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 1 December 1882 – 3 December 1882	Succeeded by Mehmed Said Pasha