Mehmed Fuad Pasha (1814 – February 12, 1869), sometimes known as Keçecizade Mehmed Fuad Pasha and commonly known as Fuad Pasha, was an Ottoman administrator and statesman, who is known for his prominent role in the Tanzimat reforms of the mid-19th-century Ottoman Empire, as well as his leadership during the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war in Syria. He represented a modern Ottoman era, given his openness to European-style modernization as well as the reforms he helped to enact.
Among other posts, he served as Grand Vizier, the equivalent of Prime Minister, on two occasions between 1861 and 1866. He is often regarded, along with Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, as one of the most influential Ottoman statesmen, who favoured a French-inspired civil code for the newly established civil courts in 1868.
Fuad Pasha was a fervent supporter of keeping the empire an absolute monarchy, rejecting the ideas of being legally bounded or restricted by a constitution or legislature. He often clashed with liberal intellectuals like Namık Kemal, Ziya Pasha and İbrahim Şinasi.
Early life
Fuad Pasha was born in 1814 to a prominent ulema family. His father, Keçecizade Izzet Molla, was a famous poet, and Fuad continued this trend as both a littérateur and a poet. He received a medrese education but had to leave his education when his father was dismissed and banished to the provinces. His mother was a descendant of Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha a 17th-century grand vizier. He studied in the medical school Tibhane-i Amire for four years with no family support and then proceeded to serve as a doctor for the Admiralty.
Career beginnings
Fuad Pasha was fluent in French, which led him to a job as scribe to the governor of Tunisia, Tahir Pasha, from 1832 to 1836. Upon the governor's death, Fuad Pasha entered the service of the Grand Vizier, Mustafa Reşid Pasha, and began working with Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha. His title, "Pasha", was given to a high-ranking member of the Ottoman government and could only be given by the Sultan as an honorary title. Mehmed Emin Aali had been in the Grand Vizier's service for a considerable amount of time. While Mustafa Reşid and Mehmed Emin Aali were on a diplomatic trip to London, Fuad secured a position as the First Translator of the Porte, a position which he held from 1838 to 1852.
Fuad continued to study history, modern languages, international law, and political economics with the hope of rising to a diplomatic career. His translator position led him to become a prótege of Mustafa Reşid's while he was in power for the first two years after the Edict of Gülhane from 1839 to 1841 and again from 1846 to 1852. The Edict was launched by Sultan Abdülmecid I at the recommendation of Mustafa Reşid and effectively began the Tanzimat reforms. Although Mehmed Emin Aali and Fuad were the same age, Fuad was somewhat slower in rising to position. This changed, however, in 1848 when Fuad demonstrated his skills in his negotiations with Russian officials in Bucharest and St. Petersburg regarding refugees flooding into the Empire as a result of the 1848 revolutions in Europe. Czar Nicholas I of Russia demanded the extradition of the men who had started the revolutions who were now seeking refuge in the Empire. Mustafa Reşid had previously refused the Czar's demands and the threat of war was growing. Fuad, however, traveled to St. Petersburg and, through his negotiations, the Czar relinquished his demands for extradition and settled for Fuad's promise that the revolutionaries would be kept far from the Russian borders. Fuad demonstrated this same talent for negotiations in 1852 when he worked with Muhammad Ali of Egypt's successor, Prince Abbas, in Egypt.