Boghos Bey Yusufian (1775 - 1844) was Egypt's Minister of Commerce, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and secretary of

Muhammad Ali Pasha Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt and the Sudan ( sq, Mehmet Ali Pasha, ar, محمد علي باشا, ; ota, محمد علی پاشا المسعود بن آغا; ; 4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849), was ...

Biography

His parents were Marta and Hovsep, who was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

merchant from Kayseri. They later settled in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

and had Boghos as their first child. He then assisted his uncle Arakel Abroyan, the then

Dragoman A dragoman or Interpretation was an interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish-, Arabic-, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts. ...

of the British Consulate in Izmir. Arakel Abroyan passed on the post of dragoman to Boghos. Boghos Yusufian then gained his commercial expertise by leading a trading center based in the city of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

. In the 1790s, Boghos Bey Yusufian became customs officer of Muhammad Murad Bey in the city of Rosette. Boghos Bey Yusufian was such a successful merchant that he was invited by Governor Mohamed Ali to become his secretary and partner. Boghos Bey was appointed the

Wali A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by t ...

’s chief dragoman, translator, first counselor, official spokesman, Minister of Commerce and Foreign Affairs, and for decades Boghos Yusufian became Egypt’s leading statesman. The Wali placed such implicit trust in him that he signed documents even before they were drafted by Boghos Bey. Boghos Yousefian is considered the first Christian in Egypt to have been granted the title of

Bey Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boghos Yousefian 1775 births 1844 deaths People from İzmir Egyptian people of Armenian descent Smyrniote Armenians Foreign ministers of Egypt 19th-century Egyptian people