Poet (b. 1699, İstanbul - d. 8 April 1763). After receiving the required
education, he began to work as a secretary at the Office of the Ottoman Rolls
of the Exchequer. In time, he was promoted to correspondent (1724),
correspondent of the Grand Vizier at the treasury (1737) and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (1741). He also worked as the Governor of Egypt (1744), Sidon,
Rikka, Aleppo and Damascus with the rank of vizier. In 1756 he was appointed
the Grand Vizier and stayed in this position until his death. He was married to
Saliha Sultan, the sister of Mustafa III (1758). He is buried in the garden of
the library, which he established in his name.
An advisor and intellectual, many of his couplets are still in common
use today, Ragıp Paşa is one of the greatest poets of his century. Besides his
Divan*, he also wrote many works on history.
WORKS:
Divan (Divan*, 1837), Münşaat (Compositions), Fethiye ve Fetihname-i Belgrad (An Ode to Conquest and the Book of the Conquest of Belgrade, depicts the conquest of Belgrade, 1939), Mecmua-i Ragıp Paşa (News from Ragıp Paşa, literary pieces in prose and verse in Turkish and Arabic), Tahkik ve Tevfik (Investigation and Agreement, correspondence between Sutna Mahmut I and Nadir Shah), Sefinetü'r-Ragıp (Ragıp’s Ship, Arabian), Matlau's-Sa'deyn (The Rising of Jupiter and Venus, translation from Semerkandî, work on history).
REFERENCE: İsmail Hikmet Ertaylan / Ahmed Hikmet, Muallim Naci / Osmanlı Şairleri (1995), İsmail Safa, Koca Ragıp Paşa ve Fitnat (1933), Murat Uraz / Râgıp Paşa (1940), İbrahim Alaeddin Gövsa / Türk Meşhurları Ansiklopedisi (1946), Bursalı Mehmed Tahir / Osmanlı Müellifleri II (1972), İhsan Işık / “Ragıp Paşa (Koca)” / “Koca Ragıp Paşa” (Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish Authors (2005) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) - Ünlü Edebiyatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 4, 2013), Hüseyin Yorulmaz / Koca Râgıb Paşa (1998), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (gen. 6. bas. 1999), Recep Ahıskalı / Osmanlı Devlet Teşkilatında Reisülküttâblık XVIII. Yüzyıl (2001), Mesut Aydıner / Koca Râgıb Mehmed Paşa-Hayatı ve Dönemi: 1699-1763 (doktora tezi, 2005), TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (c. 34, s. 403-406).