Yirmisekizzade Mehmed Said Pasha (died October 1761), earlier in his life known as Mehmed Said Efendi (sometimes spelled Sahid Mehemet Effendi in France), was an Ottoman statesman and diplomat. He was

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire The grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire ( or ''Sadr-ı Azam'' (''Sadrazam''); Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish: or ) was the ''de facto'' prime minister of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, sultan in the Ottoman Empire, with the absolute p ...

from October 25, 1755, to April 1, 1756. He was a son of

Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi (ca. 1670–1732), also Mehmed Efendi (sometimes spelled Mehemet Effendi in France), was an Ottoman statesman who was delegated as ambassador by the Sultan Ahmed III to Louis XV's France in 1720. He is remem ...

, ambassador of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1720–21. Mehmed Said was of Georgianİsmail Hâmi Danişmend, ''Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı'', Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 60. descent through his father. His epithet ''Yirmisekizzade'', meaning "son of twenty-eight" in Turkish, is a reference to his father's own epithet ''Yirmisekiz'' ("twenty-eight"), a reference to Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi's membership in the 28th battalion ('' orta'') of the

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

early in his life. He already accompanied his father during this first mission as his personal secretary. He is said to have enjoyed the French culture and lifestyle tremendously, and ended up speaking French fluently. Mehmed Said was himself dispatched for an embassy 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 ...

in 1742, as well as another more historically significant one in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 1733 and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, which led to his writing a sefaretname like his father. In Sweden, he succeeded

Mustapha Aga Kozbekçi Mustafa Agha, known as Mustapha Aga in Sweden, was an Ottoman ambassador to the Swedish court in 1727. One of his missions was to obtain a repayment of a royal debt which had been incurred by Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, so ...

as ambassador.Imber, p.53
/ref> He briefly served as the

Shaykh al-Islam Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning " elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim scholar. Though this title generally refers to men, there are also a small number of ...

between 1749 and 1750. Jauch Reception of the Turkish envoy

Notes

References

* Fatma Müge Göçek ''East encounters West: France and the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century'' Oxford University Press US, 1987 * Colin Imber, Keiko Kiyotaki, Rhoads Murphey ''Frontiers of Ottoman studies: state, province, and the West'' I.B.Tauris, 2005 1761 deaths 18th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire 18th-century diplomats 18th-century Ottoman governors of Egypt Georgians from the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of the Ottoman Empire to France Political people from the Ottoman Empire Islam in France Muslims from Georgia (country) Ambassadors of the Ottoman Empire to Sweden Ottoman governors of Egypt Shaykh al-Islāms Sheikh-ul-Islams of the Ottoman Empire {{Ottoman-bio-stub

See also

Notes

References