Midhat Pasha

Midhat Pasha
مدحت پاشا
Midhat Pasha in Vienna, July 1877 (photograph: Atelier Adèle). The handwritten date (August 27, 1878) was the date in where photograph was dedicated, when Midhat Pasha was a guest of the Duke of Sutherland.
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office 19 December 1876 – 5 February 1877
Monarch	Abdulhamid II (r. 1876–1909)
Preceded by	Mehmed Rushdi Pasha
Succeeded by	Ibrahim Edhem Pasha
In office 31 July 1872 – 19 October 1872
Monarch	Abdulaziz (r. 1861–1876)
Preceded by	Mahmud Nedim Pasha
Succeeded by	Mehmed Rushdi Pasha
Personal details
Born	1822 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died	26 April 1883 (aged 60) Taif, Hejaz Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Parliament	Parliament of the Ottoman Empire

Ahmed Shefik Midhat Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: احمد شفيق مدحت پاشا, romanized: Aḥmed Şefīḳ Midḥat Pāşā; 1822 – 26 April 1883) was an Ottoman politician, reformist, and statesman. He was the author of the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire.

Midhat was born in Istanbul and educated from a private medrese. In July 1872, he was appointed grand vizier by Abdulaziz (r. 1861–1876), though was removed in August. During the First Constitutional Era, in 1876, he co-founded the Ottoman Parliament. Midhat was noted as a kingmaker and leading Ottoman democrat. He was part of a governing elite which recognized the crisis the Empire was in and considered reform to be a dire need. Midhat was reportedly killed in al-Ta'if.