Edouard Blak Bey a.k.a. Edouard Blacque (1824–1895[1]) was the first minister of the Ottoman Empire to the United States.[2]

His father, a Frenchman descended from the Scottish Catholic Black family,[1] was Alexandre Blacque, of Moniteur Ottoman. The Ottoman state sent Blak on scholarship to Collège Saint-Barbe in France in 1837, making him the first non-Muslim to get such a scholarship.[3] Blak married an American woman whose father was a surgeon; the surgeon was well known at the time.[4]

Blak joined the Ottoman Foreign service with posts in Paris, France and Naples, Italy.[1] In the mid-1850s Blak, sensing the rise of the United States, asked the Ottoman government to establish a diplomatic post in the U.S.; at the time the U.S. already had a minister to the empire. Blak's motive for the request stemmed from his marriage. The empire did not reciprocate until 1867.[4]

Blak came to the U.S. in 1866,[1] and was accompanied by his new wife, a Levantine Catholic woman, as his American wife had died by then. While in the U.S. she gave birth to a son, named Reşad or Richard.[2] Blak stated that he had a positive view of the U.S. from his term of service.[5]

Blak appeared in a photograph with Robert E. Lee and other officials from the U.S. government. Sinan Kuneralp, author of "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917," described this photograph as "one of America's most valuable pictorial documents" and what Blak "is best remembered [for] today".[2]

Robert E Lee with his Generals and Blacque Bey, seated at far left, 1869

His term as U.S. envoy ended in 1873.[1] He became president of Pera Municipality (now Beyoğlu), where he established a system of public parks that got inspiration from Washington, DC.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Wasti, Syed Tanvir (2012). "Ahmed Rüstem Bey and the End of an Era". Middle Eastern Studies. 48 (5): 781–796. doi:10.1080/00263206.2012.703616. S2CID 144132608. - Published online 14 August 2012 - Content from notes section
  2. 1 2 3 Kuneralp, Sinan. "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917." In: Criss, Nur Bilge, Selçuk Esenbel, Tony Greenwood, and Louis Mazzari (editors). American Turkish Encounters: Politics and Culture, 1830-1989 (EBSCO Ebook Academic Collection). Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 12 July 2011. ISBN 144383260X, 9781443832601. Start: p. 100. CITED: p. 101.
  3. ↑ Kırmızı, Abdulhamit. "European Educational Backgrounds of Armenian Officials in the Ottoman Empire." In: Schmoller, Andreas (editor). Middle Eastern Christians and Europe: Historical Legacies and Present Challenges. LIT Verlag Münster, 2018. ISBN 3643910231, 9783643910233. Start: p. 59. CITED: p. 61. The same page identifies him as an Ambassador to the US, so it is the same person.
  4. 1 2 Kuneralp, Sinan. "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917." In: Criss, Nur Bilge, Selçuk Esenbel, Tony Greenwood, and Louis Mazzari (editors). American Turkish Encounters: Politics and Culture, 1830-1989 (EBSCO Ebook Academic Collection). Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 12 July 2011. ISBN 144383260X, 9781443832601. Start: p. 100. CITED: p. 100.
  5. 1 2 Kuneralp, Sinan. "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917." In: Criss, Nur Bilge, Selçuk Esenbel, Tony Greenwood, and Louis Mazzari (editors). American Turkish Encounters: Politics and Culture, 1830-1989 (EBSCO Ebook Academic Collection). Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 12 July 2011. ISBN 144383260X, 9781443832601. Start: p. 100. CITED: p. 107.
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