Ahmed Fethi Pasha

Rodosizade Ahmed Fethi Paşa, (b. 1801 - d. 1858), was an Ottoman marshal, ambassador and industrialist.

Prior to becoming a Marshal, Ahmed served as ambassador to Russia in 1833, Austria in 1834-1836 and France in 1837-1839.[1] His last diplomatic assignment was as the representative of the Ottoman Empire at Queen Victoria's coronation.[1] In 1839, Ahmed returned to Constantinople for Sultan Abdulmecid I's coronation and to marry Abdulmecid's sister Atiye Sultan.[2]

As an industrialist he was intent on bringing the Ottoman Empire into the modern age. Ahmed started steel factories and the famous Beykoz porcelain factory, which carried the insignia Product of Istanbul (Eser-i Istanbul).[2]

In 1846, Ahmed, now marshal of the Imperial arsenal,[3] turned the Hagia Irene into a military antiques museum.[4] It is possible Ahmed gained his inspiration for the conversion of the Hagia Irene into a museum, from touring European museums during his career as an ambassador.[5] Through his work, he created the first Ottoman museum.[3]

Descendants

From his Marriage with Atiye Sultan he got two daughters: Seniye Hanımsultan (b.3.10.1843 - d.10.12.1919) and Feride Hanımsultan (b.30.5.1847 - d.1920)

References

  1. 1 2 Wendy M. K. Shaw, Possessors and Possessed: Museums, Archaeology, and the Visualization of History in the Late Ottoman Empire, (University of California Press, 2003), 47.  – via Questia (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 Wendy M. K. Shaw, Possessors and Possessed: Museums, Archaeology, and the Visualization of History in the Late Ottoman Empire, 48.  – via Questia (subscription required)
  3. 1 2 Wendy M. K. Shaw, Possessors and Possessed: Museums, Archaeology, and the Visualization of History in the Late Ottoman Empire, 46.  – via Questia (subscription required)
  4. ↑ Museums and Narratives of Display from the late Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic, Wendy Shaw, Muqarnas, Vol.XXIV, (Brill, 2007), 256.
  5. ↑ Wendy M. K. Shaw, Possessors and Possessed: Museums, Archaeology, and the Visualization of History in the Late Ottoman Empire, 54.  – via Questia (subscription required)
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