Soliman Pasha al-Faransawi (''Süleyman Pasha the French''; 17 May 1788 – 12 March 1860), born Joseph Anthelme Sève, was a French-born Egyptian commander.

Biography

Joseph Anthelme Sève was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

. He became a sailor. Later he joined the army of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

. He fought at the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo. After the war ended in 1815, he resigned from Napoleon's Army and worked as a merchant. At this time, Muhammad Ali Pasha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt, was recruiting European officers to train his newly formed military on modern warfare and soldierly discipline. Sève travelled to Egypt, changed his name and converted to Islam. He was placed in charge of the new soldiers' school at Aswan, now the Egyptian Military Academy. His task was to train a new model army of Sudanese slaves. When this did not work to plan, Muhammed Ali sent him other ethnicities to train as officers: Egypt-born

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...

, Albanians and Greeks.

Marriage and children

He married a Greek woman, ⁣ Maria Myriam Hanem, with whom he had several children. One of his great-granddaughters was Queen Nazli, wife of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Fuad, and mother of King Farouk. Suleiman Pasha died in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

. He still has many descendants living in Egypt.

Death

His tomb is in

Old Cairo Old Cairo (Arabic: مصر القديمة , Miṣr al-Qadīma, Egyptian pronunciation: Maṣr El-ʾAdīma) is a historic area in Cairo, Egypt, which includes the site of a Roman-era fortress and of Islamic-era settlements pre-dating the founding of ...

, and the body of his wife is buried nearby.

Legacy

There is a statue of him in the

Egyptian National Military Museum The Egyptian National Military Museum is the official museum of the Egyptian Army. Location The National Military Museum is located at the north western area of the three Haram Palaces, inside the Cairo Citadel. It overlooks the Mokattam Hills ...

inside the

Cairo Citadel The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin ( ar, قلعة صلاح الدين, Qalaʿat Salāḥ ad-Dīn) is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rule ...

and a bust at the ''Préfecture'' in Lyon, France. Seve's most famous quote was “I loved three men in my whole life, my father, Napoleon and Muhammad Ali”

References

External links

Biography
1788 births 1860 deaths Converts to Islam Egyptian people of the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841) Egyptian soldiers French Muslims Egyptian Muslims Military personnel from Lyon Pashas Egyptian pashas Egyptian people of French descent French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars {{Egypt-mil-bio-stub