2/16/12

February 1869: Fu'ad Pasha, the Turkish Foreign Minister dies in Nice, France

Those mainly responsible for Bahá'u'lláh's final banishment to Akka were the Prime Minister, Ali Pasha, the Foreign Minister, Fu'ad Pasha and the Persian Ambassador, Haji Mirza Husayn Khan (the Mushiru'd-Dawlih). These three worked together closely until they succeeded in their efforts to banish Bahá'u'lláh to 'Akká and to impose on Him life imprisonment within the walls of that prison city. Bahá'u'lláh prophesied that Ali Pasha and Fu'ad Pasha would be struck down by the hand of God as a punishment for their action … (Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah, v 2, p. 398)

Fu’ad Pasha was born in Istanbul in 1815, the son of a famous poet and scholar, 'Izzat Mulla.  He studied at the Medical School where he learnt French.  He spent three years as an army doctor and then switched to the Translation Bureau in 1837.  He was sent important diplomatic missions until, in 1852, he was appointed Foreign Minister under 'Ali Pasha.  He again served as Foreign Minister in 1855-6, 1858-60, 1861 and 1867, and as Grand Vizier in 1861-3 and 1863-6, alternating with 'Ali Pasha in these important posts.  Fu'ad advocated the modernization of the Ottoman state and was also influential in the development of the Turkish language.  He died on 12 February 1869 in Nice, France, of a heart condition.(Balyuzi, Baha’u’llah The King of Glory, p. 472)