Veysel Paşa

Veysel Paşa was born in Preveza in 1841 and belonged to the well-known Dino family of Albania. His father Ahmed Dino was one of the influential figures around Preveza and Ioannina. Veysel Paşa was the elder brother of Âbidin Paşa, from the same family, whose tomb is located in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.

The Dino family was one of the families with wide influence in the Province of Ioannina and the Çamlık-Albania region. Veysel Paşa’s being described as one of the kapıcıbaşıs of the Imperial Court indicates that he held a respected office connected with palace protocol. Kapıcıbaşılık was one of the old offices in the Ottoman palace organization associated with the sultan’s gate and the order of official reception.

Veysel Paşa was elected deputy for Ioannina to the first Ottoman Chamber of Deputies, opened in 1877. He was among the Muslim deputies elected from the Province of Ioannina and thus occupied a place both among the local Albanian elites and the first representative generation of Ottoman constitutional politics.

The tomb built in 1906 for his brother Âbidin Paşa in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery contains two sarcophagi. One belongs to Âbidin Paşa and the other to Veysel Paşa.

Dinozâde Veysel Paşa died on 31 Kânunuevvel 1319, corresponding to 13 January 1904, and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.