Necib Paşa

Ahmed Necib Paşa was born in Istanbul around 1855 as the son of Abdurrahman Sâmî Paşa, one of the well-known statesmen of the Tanzimat period. Sâmî Paşa served as the first Minister of Education of the Ottoman Empire, and his mansion became an important centre that brought together the scholarly, literary and palace circles of the period.

Necib Paşa became a son-in-law of the Ottoman dynasty by marrying Mediha Sultan, daughter of Sultan Abdülmecid. The title “damad-ı şehriyârî” was used for statesmen who married a sultan from the imperial family. Mediha Sultan’s marriage stands out among palace marriages of the period as one in which personal choice was especially visible.

In the early years of Sultan Abdülhamid II’s reign, Necib Paşa’s name was mentioned with suspicion after Ali Suavi’s Çırağan Incident of 1878. This failed attempt to restore Murad V to the throne created serious security concerns in the palace circle, and Necib Paşa was sent for a time as clerk to the Paris Embassy. After the suspicions concerning him faded, he returned to Istanbul, married Mediha Sultan and was appointed member of the Şûrâ-yı Devlet with the rank of vizier.

From his marriage with Mediha Sultan was born Abdurrahman Sâmî Bey. Necib Paşa’s life, however, was very short; he caught typhoid at a young age, died in 1885 and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.