Writer and statesman (b.
1830, Gaziantep - d. 1910). He completed his education at Madrasah Muslim
School in Gaziantep, Cairo and Damascus. He learned Persian and Arabic by
taking private lessons. Leading a very active life, he carried out important
duties. After working at the Damascus Provincial Office and the İstanbul
Babıali* Translation Office for a while, in 1855 he was sent to Berlin as a
deputy secretary at the embassy. With the help of the Berlin Ambassador Kemal
Paşa, he studied at university there. After he returned to İstanbul, he was
appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the Commercial Court (1858). During these
years, his work appeared in Ceride-i
Havadis (1861). Then he began to publish his own newspaper Ruzname-i Ceride-i Hava-dis. Later, in 1863 he was appointed as
the First Translator at the Babıali* Translation Office. In the same year, with
the help of Fuad Paşa, he established the Ottoman Scientific Society and
published the monthly review Mecmua-ı
Fünun (1863).
Later, he was promoted to
Security Undersecretary (1867), Head of the Court of Appeal (1868), Head of the
Board of Education (1869), the Tehran Ambassador (1872), Trade Minister (1877),
Education Minister (1878-80) and Head of the Council of Public Health (1881).
However, due to an article in Mecmua-i
Fünun, which he began to re-publish in 1882, the review was closed and
Münif Paşa was interrogated. In 1884 he was re-appointed to the Ministry of
Education. In his later years, he did not take on any further official duties
but gave lectures at İstanbul School of Law.
He published Muhaverat-ı
Hikemiye (Conversations of Ideas) in 1859 and according to some sources
this is regarded as the first important work on the History of Thought in
Turkey. In Mecmua-i Fünun (3 periods,
48 issues), which was accepted as the most important review on ideology of that
time, various scientific and philosophical matters on social and applied
sciences were discussed. His course books İlm-i
Server (The Art of Being a Leader) and Belagat
(Rhetoric), along with
manuscripts of his printed works are at Ankara University, Faculty of Language,
History and Geography, Revolution History Institute Library.
WORKS:
Muhaverat-ı Hikemiye (Conversations of Ideas, 1859), Dasitan-ı Al-i Osman (Epic of the Great Ottoman, 1882), Telhis-i Hikmet-i Hukuk Medhal-i İlm-i Hukuk (Summary of the Philosophy of Law, Introduction to the Science of Law) İlm- Server (The Art of Being a Leader), Belagat(Rhetoric), Hikmet-i Hukuk (Philosophy of Law).
