[FATHER OF THE OTTOMAN REFORM / TANZIMAT] Autograph letter signed 'Rechid' with his original engraved portrait.

MOUSTAPHA RECHID PASHA THE GREAT, (Ottoman statesman and diplomat), (1800-1858).

Letterhead "Ambassade De La Sublime Porte", Paris, 1844.

Original ALS / ADS signed by Koca Moustapha Rechid Pasha the Great with his an engraved portrait in the same fine frame. 1 p. on bifolium. In French. 12 lines. It's written from Paris when he was appointed as an Ottoman ambassador to France five years later from the Ottoman Reform in 1839. Koca Mustafa Pasha was an Ottoman statesman and diplomat, known best as the chief architect behind the Ottoman government reforms known as Tanzimat. Born in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1800, Mustafa Resid entered public service at an early age and rose rapidly, becoming ambassador to France (1834) and to the United Kingdom (1836), minister for foreign affairs (1837), and once again ambassador to the United Kingdom (1838) and to France (1841). In the settlement of the Oriental Crisis of 1840, and during the Crimean War and the ensuing peace negotiations, he rendered important diplomatic services to the Ottoman state. He returned a third time as ambassador to France in 1843. Between 1845 and 1857, he held the office of Grand Vizier six times. One of the greatest and most versatile statesmen of his time, thoroughly acquainted with European politics and well-versed in national and international affairs, he was a convinced partisan for reform and the principal author of the legislative remodeling of the Ottoman administration known as Tanzimat. His efforts to promote reforms within the government led to the advancement of the careers of many other reformers, such as Fuad Pasha and Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha. After the conclusion of the Oriental Crisis of 1840 due to Muhammad Ali in Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha bribed the Ottoman Porte to remove Mustafa Rechid Pasha from his post as Foreign Minister. He returned to his post as Ambassador to Paris soon after where he mainly focused his efforts on solving the Lebanon Question, which resulted from a dispute between a Christian group called the Maronites based out of Lebanon and an extremist Shia group called the Druzes who came from Syria and Lebanon.