Mustafa Reşit Paşa

Koca Mustafa Reşit Pasha (literally Great Mustafa Reşit Pasha; March 13, 1800 – 17 December 1858) was an Ottoman statesman and diplomat, known best as the chief architect behind the Ottoman government reforms known as Tanzimat.

Born in Istanbul in 1800, he entered the public service at an early age and rose rapidly, becoming ambassador in Paris (1834) and in London (1836), minister for foreign affairs (1837), once again ambassador in London (1838) and in Paris (1841). Appointed governor of Adrianople in 1843, he returned as ambassador to Paris in the same year. Between 1845 and 1857 he was six times grand vizier.

One of the greatest and most brilliant 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 Ali Pasha.

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.