AKİF PAŞA

Poet and writer (b. 1787, Yozgat – d. 1845, Alexandria). He was raised on private courses in the city where he was born. After the death of Cebbarzade Süleyman Bey to whom he was a clerk of court, he came to İstanbul. He caught the attention of the Sultan in a short time and was appointed to important positions of state. He became the Minister of Foreign Affairs (1835-36) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1837) with the rank of vizier. However, his spent most of his life in political disputes and was often dismissed from important posts and exiled. He died in Alexandria where he had become ill while he was returning from the pilgrimage in Mecca.
Literary authorities have different opinions about whether he brought a reformation to Turkish literature or not. He was renowned for his book Adem Kasidesi (Kaside* of Adam) and Mersiye (The Elegy) which he wrote in syllabic meter on the death of his grandson. He was also deemed one of the last penmen of Divan* literature with his works in prose.

WORKS:

POETRY: Münşeat-i Elhac Akif Efendi ve Divançe (Articles of Pilgrim Akif Efendi and His Small Divan*, Egypt, 1845; İstanbul, 1943).

LETTER-MEMOIR: Eser-i Akif Paşa (The Works of Akif Paşa, his letters, 1873), Tabsıra (Signpost, 1882, 1887; translated into French, 1892), Muharrerat-ı Hususiye-i Akif Paşa (The Private Letters of Akif Paşa, 1883).

He also translated from Arabic.