Statesman,
grand vizier (B. 1815, İstanbul – D. February 12, 1869, Nice / France). His
full name was Keçecizade Mehmet Fuad and he was the Grandson of kazasker (T.N. a
military judge in the Ottoman judiciary) Keçecizade Mehmet Salih Efendi and son
of the poet Keçecizade İzzet Molla. He served as the Hariciye Nazırı (Foreign Affairs
Minister in Ottoman) five times and as the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister in
Ottoman) two times. He firstly attended to mosque lessons. He took private lessons
and learned Arabic and Persian. He graduated from Mekteb-i Tıbbiye (Faculty of
Medicine), teaching in French (1834) and then served as a physician about
three years in Tripoli,
as a state officer. In 1837, upon the suggestion of Mustafa Reşid Pasha, he
entered in the Translation Chamber of Babıâli (T.N. Sublime Porte) and advanced to the head clerkship. Then he took
charge in the Foreign Affairs and was appointed as the London Embassy’s Head
Clerk in 1840. He was charged as the temporary ambassador of Madrid
in 1843 and Lisbon
in 1844. After Mustafa Reşid Pasha became the grand vizier in 1846, he was appointed
to the private secretariat of Divan-ı Hümayun (the office in the palace where
wishes of people are listened).
During
that period, Magyar and Polish revolutionists stuck in a difficult situation
since the Russians have helped the Austrians and they sought refugee"
in the Ottoman
State. Russia and Austria notified they would
terminate their political relationships unless the refugees were not returned
back as soon as possible (1849). Thereupon, the Vükelâ Council Ottoman
Council of Ministers decided to send Fuad Efenedi in Bucharest to Russian Tsar with the dignity of
extraordinary ambassadorship. He made Nesselrod, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, recognize that the issue of refugees was a special one between two
monarchs and so ensured the continuation of negotiations. The government
appreciated these services of Fuad Efendi, made him the undersecretary of Sadaret (Prime
Ministry) with the degree of “Bâlâ” and awarded him the order of privilege
(1850).
Fuad
Efendi stayed in Bursa
for a while and wrote the draft of bylaw of Şirket-i Hayriye. When he returned to
Istanbul, he was made a member to the newly
established Encümen-i Dâniş (Academy
of Sciences) as the Sadaret Müsteşarı (Undersecretary
of Primer Minister). He was sent to Egypt in March 1852 by the Grand
Vizier Reşid Pasha. During three and a half months he spent there, he increased
the yearly tax of Egypt
from 60.000 purses to 80.000. When he returned back, he was made the Hariciye Nazırlığı (Minister
of Foreign Affairs). In the meantime, Prince Mençikof, who was sent as the extraordinary
ambassador, came to Istanbul
and directly visited the Grand Vizier in order to discuss the “Sacred
Positions” issue. Fuad Efendi found that attitude an irregular conduct and
withdrew from the ministry.
Afterwards,
he was charged in suppressing the Greek gang forces advancing towards Ioannina
(1854). After he resolved that issue and returned to Istanbul, he was again appointed as the
Minister of Foreign Affairs together with the duty of the Head of Meclis-i Âlî-i Tanzimat Başkanlığı (T.N.
Supreme Council of the Reforms). In order to prevent him joining the Paris
Conference, the British Ambassador Lord Strafford requested from padishah to
replace Fuad Pasha with somebody else, and thereupon he resigned from his position
(November 1856) and made member to the
Supreme Council of the Reforms. In the August of the following year, he was
again appointed as the head of that council and then again as the Minister of
Foreign Affairs. In 1860, he was sent as the “Extraordinary Commissioner” to Mount Lebanon in order to resolve the conflict between
Marunîs and Dürzîs. He went to Beirut.
He suppressed the disturbance in Damascus
using violence.
When
Fuad Pasha was in Syria,
Abdülmecid died and Abdülaziz ascended to throne. The new padishah combined the
High Council (Meclis-i Valâ) and the Supreme Council of the Reforms (Meclis-i
Âlî-yi Tanzimat) and formed a new institution and commissioned Fuad Pasha as
the head of that institution (July 14, 1861). After a short time, he became the
Minister of Foreign Affairs for the fourth time and then the Grand Vizier
(November 22, 1861). During that duty, in order to remove the economic crisis
of the state, he undertook the general management of the treasury and he
reported to padishah the measures he found necessary to be taken via a long
letter. However, despite all efforts he made, he couldn’t improve the financial
situation of the state as he wanted. Showing as cause also the political
situation becoming worse due to the spread of nationalism throughout Rumelia,
he resigned from the Vizierate (January
6, 1863). After a while, upon the insist of padishah, he accepted the
presidency of the Supreme Council for Judicial Ordinances (Meclis-i Valâ-yı Ahkâm-ı Adliye). He
accompanied Abdülaziz on his journey to Egypt (April 3 – May 3 1863). He
enjoyed the title of “Yaver-i Ekrem” on return. Soon after, he was commissioned
as the Grand Vizier for the second time (1 June 1863), without leaving the
seraskiership. Thus, he served as the Grand Vizier more than four years in
total.
Fuad Pasha
has written a political testament addressing Padishah Abdülaziz including the
methods that should be followed for the sake of protecting the interests of the
Ottoman State
against the politics of large states and this testament was published later in
the gazette Meşveret issued in Paris.
Fuad Pasha, who carried out some administrative studies other than the foreign
relationships, financial and military reforms during his political duties, put
forward his opinions about establishment of the provincial organizations
governed by authorized governors instead of the state organizations, and use of
masonry constructions in the cities and endeavored to realize them. However, in
the meantime, he was discharged from his position and Ali Pasha was made the
Grand Vizier and so he became the Minister of Foreign Affairs (February 1867)
for the fifth time. He joined the Europe
journey of Abdülaziz in 1867. He returned tired and sick due to a heart
problem. He died in Nice where he has gone to spend the winter upon the advice
of his doctors. His corpse was brought to Istanbul
in a ship allocated by the government of France. He was buried in the tomb
he had prepared while he was alive, on the street carrying his name in the
vicinity of Sultan Ahmet. It is said that, Fuad Pasha, who was a member of the
Mawlavi sect, said the line “Ehl-i îmân
ruhuna, geçme oku bir Fatiha” (Do not pass by, read an El-Fatehah for the soul
of the one with strong faith) for his death. After his death, many
elegiac poetries were written for him.
Fuad Pasha
is recognized as one of the builders of Tanzimat together with Mustafa Reşid Pasha
and Ali Pasha. He closely observed the political developments in Europe and he belived
that the Ottoman State could only survive by utilizing
the power balances among the European states. It is accepted that Mustafa Reşid
Pasha followed a pro-British attitude and Ali Pasha a pro-French attitude
regarding the foreign politics. Fuad Pasha, who dealt with science other than
being a statesman, wrote Kavâid-i Osmaniye (Rules of Ottoman Turkish), together with the historian Ahmet
Cevdet Pasha, which was one of the
first works on the grammar of Ottoman Turkish.
WORKS:
Kavâid-i Osmaniye (1864), Vasiyetname-i Siyasi (1896), Belgelerle Tanzimat:
Osmanlı Sadrazamlarından Âli ve Fuad Paşaların Vasiyyetnâmeleri (1978).
