Hekim Ismail Pasha (1807–1880; lit. ''Ismail Pasha the Physician'', also known as Ismail Hakkı Pasha) was an Ottoman physician and statesman.

Biography

Ismail Pasha was born to a Greek family from the island of

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

. He was sold as a slave to a doctor in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

and was informally trained as a surgeon next to him. He was then appointed to the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

and served during the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

. Later, he received formal medical training in the newly established medical school, graduating in 1840 and continuing his medical studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He gained prominence during the reign of Sultan

Abdulmejid ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...

, when he served as the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

's chief surgeon and the Imperial family's private physician. He served in various ministries such as these of Medicine, Public Works and Trade and as governor of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

and

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

. Ismail Pasha was the father of the composer and poet

Leyla Saz Leyla Saz, also called Leyla Hanımefendi (1850–1936), was an Ottoman and later a Turkish composer, poet and writer. Biography Born in 1850, she was the daughter of İsmail Hakkı Pasha, (often called Hekim İsmail Pasha (İsmail Pasha t ...

, whereas his grooms were

Kadri Pasha Mehmed Kadri Pasha () also known as Kadri Pasha (1832 – 1884) was an Ottoman statesman and reformer. He was the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Abdul Hamid II from 9 June 1880 to 12 September 1880. From 11 February 1876 ...

and

Giritli Sırrı Pasha Giritli Sırrı Pasha ("Sırrı Pasha the Cretan") was a 19th-century Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrator and man of letters of Turkish Cretan origin. He was born in 1844 in Kandiye, Crete, Ottoman Empire as the son of Helvacızade Salih Tosun ...

References

1807 births 1880 deaths Political people from the Ottoman Empire People from the Ottoman Empire of Greek descent 19th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire {{Ottoman-bio-stub