Soliman Pasha al-Faransawi

Joseph Anthelme Sève, alias Suleiman Pasha, in later life.

Soliman Pasha al-Faransawi (Süleyman Pasha the French; May or July 1788 – 12 March 1860), born Joseph Anthelme Sève, was a French-born Egyptian commander.

Biography

Soliman Pasha was born in Lyon. He was a sailor.[1] Later he joined the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. He fought at the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo.[1] Then he converted to Islam and was recruited by Muhammad Ali of Egypt to help build the Egyptian army on the European model. He was placed in charge of a new military academy at Aswan built to train a new model army of Sudanese slaves.[2]

He married a Greek woman,[3][4][5] Maria Myriam Hanem, with whom he had three children, Nazli (future grandmother of Queen Nazli),[4] Aasma and Mahadi. His great-granddaughter was Queen Nazli of Egypt,[4] wife of King Fuad, and mother of King Farouk.[5] Suleiman Pasha died in Cairo.

He still has many descendants living in Egypt.

Death

Tomb of Suleiman Pasha el-Faransawi, Old Cairo, Egypt

His tomb is present in Cairo's Old Cairo quarter, and the body of his wife is buried nearby.[3]

Legacy

The Statue of Suleiman Pasha

There is a statue of him in the Cairo Military Museum and a bust at the Préfecture in Lyon.

References

  1. 1 2 George Young (2002). Egypt from the Napoleonic Wars Down to Cromer and Allenby. Gorgias Press LLC. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-931956-88-8. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Khaled Fahmy, All The Pasha’s Men: Mehmed Ali, His Army And The Making Of Modern Egypt, American University in Cairo Press, 2002 p.88
  3. 1 2 Rodenbeck, John (1993). Cairo. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. p. 143. ISBN 9780395664315. Born in Lyon in 1788 and originally known in France as Anthelme Seve, Sulayman Pasha ... In the building nearby is interred the body of Lady Maryam, Sulayman Pasha's wife, a beautiful Greek whom the young and dashing colonel had rescued...
  4. 1 2 3 Mostyn, Trevor (2006). Egypt's Belle Epoque: Cairo and the Age of the Hedonists. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. pp. 27–28. ISBN 9781845112400. Sulaiman Pasha made an eccentric figure ... Born in Lyon in 1788, he lived to the age of seventy-two with his favourite Greek mistress, dying in Cairo on 12 March 1860. His daughter, Nazli Hanem, married Muhammad Sherif Pasha, who was to become an important prime minister under Ismail. Their granddaughter, the beautiful, domineering Nazli Sabri, was to marry King Fouad and give birth to the last of the dynasty, King Farouk.
  5. 1 2 "Weekend Nostalgia". The Middle East Journal. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.


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