Prince Jean Constantin Alexandre Othon Karadja Pasha[1]. (March 9, 1835, Nauplia – August 11, 1894, The Hague) was a Phanariot army officer and diplomat of the Ottoman Empire. He was a talented pianist and composer.
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Jean is the son of Prince Constantin Caradja (1799–1860) and Adèle Condo Dandolo (1814–1891) who descends from the famous Venetian Doges family. He is the grandson of Prince John Caradja.
In 1859 he married in Caroline Durand in Constantinople. They had one descendant before the marriage was divorced:
On April 24, 1887 he married Marie Louise Smith of Sweden, known as Princess Mary Karadja (1868–1943). She was the youngest daughter of Lars Olsson Smith. They had two descendants:
After high school in Athens and the military school and law education in Berlin, he is admitted with 15 years to the translation office of the Ottoman Empire in 1850, through which all the future Ottoman diplomats passed.
In 1851 Jean is appointed secretary of the Ottoman legation in Berlin, which was led by his father Constantin from December 1847 – October 1857. It was common practice that the lower officials of the Ottoman ministry were selected from the own family members. In 1854 he is appointed prime secretary of the Ottoman legation in The Hague and in November he is admitted to the Ottoman army as commander of the general staff. Keeping his title as prime secretary, he is named to the Ottoman legation in Brussels and in The Hague. He also takes office as military attaché. In 1860 he is transferred to Turin and later as Consul General to Ancona. In April 1871 he is Consul General in Venice and in November 1874 in Brindisi. In September 1879 he is appointed director of the Imperial lyceum in Galatasaray and receives the title Pasha. In July 1881 at the age of 46 years and with 31 years in the diplomatic service, he is appointed Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague and simultaneously in Stockholm where he becomes a well known personality in diplomatic circles and high society[2]. He dies in 1894 as minister for The Hague and Stockholm and is buried in the Orthodox chapel of the family castle in Bovigny[3] in Belgium. From his 44 years in the Imperial Ottoman service, he only lived 2 – 3 years in Turkey[4].