24 Facts About Hayreddin Pasha

Hayreddin Pasha was a political reformer during a period of growing European ascendancy.

Hayreddin Pasha applied the Islamic concept of "maslahah", to economic issues.

Hayreddin Pasha emphasized the central role of justice and security in economic development.

Hayreddin Pasha was a major advocate of "tanzimat" for Tunisia's political and economic systems.

Thereafter as a young orphan Hayreddin Pasha was sold into slavery via the Black Sea slave trade, then still a familiar event for Circassian youth.

Hayreddin Pasha resumed his high-level studies, mainly at the Bardo Military Academy a nearby institution newly established by the bey.

Hayreddin Pasha rose quickly in the elite cavalry, the nucleus of the bey's new army.

In 1853 Hayreddin Pasha was elevated to the highest military grade, commander of the cavalry; he then became an aide-de-camp of the bey.

Hayreddin Pasha held responsibility for the expanding ports, Tunis and Goulette, as well as distant Sfax.

At about the age of forty, circa 1862, Hayreddin Pasha married his first wife, Jeneina, who was the niece of the Bey.

Nonetheless, Hayreddin Pasha repudiated both in order to marry Kmar.

Mustafa Khaznadar, although the Grand Vizier and servant of the Bey, could be an avaricious dealer in extortion, and good at it as well, becoming quite wealthy; while Hayreddin Pasha was known to be a committed opponent of tyranny and corruption.

In 1853 Hayreddin Pasha had a palace constructed in the suburb of La Manuba, east of Tunis.

Hayreddin Pasha apparently had a "grand residence" in the madina of Tunis, in the quarter Place du Tribunal, and a third elsewhere.

Hayreddin Pasha then sought to sell his rather large holdings in real estate.

Hayreddin Pasha died in 1890, surrounded by his family in their konuk [villa] located in Kurucesme near the Bosporus.

The first to serve as its president was Hayreddin Pasha, appointed by the bey.

Hayreddin Pasha appealed directly to Muslim clerics, the ulama, and stressed that the elite ruling class should serve as stewards of the people's welfare.

Later Hayreddin Pasha led the Tunisian government as its chief minister.

In 1878 Hayreddin Pasha was invited by the Ottoman sultan to relocate to Istanbul for government service.

Hayreddin Pasha worked initially on the Financial Reform Commission during 1878, being charged with modernization of the empire's tax and budgetary process.

At the spacious mansion in Istanbul given him by the sultan, Hayreddin Pasha remained in retirement during his last decade, but his rheumatoid arthritis made life difficult and his exile brought him some bitterness.

Hayreddin Pasha titled his memoirs A mes enfants: ma vie privee et politique [To My Children: My private and political life].

Hayreddin Pasha's character appears in Sami Fehri's television series, Tej El Hadhra, portrayed by actor Yassine Ben Gamra.