Poet and statesman
(b. 1853, İstanbul - d. 1903, Brussels). He used the pen name Âsâf for his
poems. His real name was Mahmud Celaleddin and he was known as Damat Mahmut
Paşa after his marriage to Saliha Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Abdülmecid. He
was later connected to Feyzullah Efendi, a sheikh of the Halidiye order.
After serving in
various posts at the palace, he worked as a member of Council of State and
Minister of Interior Affairs (1878). He was dismissed because of his actions against
Abdülhamit II and fled to Europe with his sons. He continued his actions
together with the Young Turks in Paris and London, which led to the stripping
of his rank and he was ordered to be executed.
He spent his last
years in exile in Europe. Five years after his death in Brussels, his bones
were brought to İstanbul and buried in Eyüp Sultan Graveyard. Although the
poems in his Divan (Divan) were
deeply influenced by nazire* (imitation poetry) and Namık Kemal, he gained huge
fame during his lifetime. His Divan
(Divan*) was published in Egypt in 1898.
WORKS:
Dâmad Halil Paşa-zade Dâmad Mahmud Paşa’ nın Eş’ârı (1898), Tezkire-i Ulemâ, Ulemâ-yı
Arab’ın Hilâfet Hakkındaki Şer-i Mübîn ve Ahbâr-ı Sahiha-dan İktibasları
ve Dâmad Mahmud Paşa’dan Sultan Abdülhamîd’i Sânî ye Mektub (1898).
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