Edouard Blak

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

a.k.a. Edouard Blacque (1824–1895 - Published online 14 August 2012 - Content from notes section) was the first minister of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

to the United States.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).

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His father, a Frenchman descended from the Scottish Catholic Black family, was Alexandre Blacque, editor of ''

Le Moniteur ottoman ''Le Moniteur ottoman'' was a newspaper written in French and first published in 1831 on the order of Mahmud II.''État présent de l'empire ottoman'', p. 168. It was the first official gazette of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Alexandre Blacque ...

''. 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.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. , 9783643910233. Start: p
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The same page identifies him as an Ambassador to the US, so it is the same person. Blak married an American woman whose father was a surgeon; the surgeon was well known at the time.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).

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Blak joined the Ottoman Foreign service with posts in Paris, France and Naples, Italy. 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. Blak came to the U.S. in 1866, 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. Blak stated that he had a positive view of the U.S. from his term of service.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).

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Blak appeared in a photograph with

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

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 ortoday". His term as U.S. envoy ended in 1873. He became president of

Pera Pera may refer to: Places * Pera (Beyoğlu), a district in Istanbul formerly called Pera, now called Beyoğlu ** Galata, a neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, often referred to as Pera in the past * Pêra (Caparica), a Portuguese locality in the district o ...

Municipality (now

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

), where he established a system of public parks that got inspiration from Washington, DC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blak, Edouard Ambassadors of the Ottoman Empire to the United States 1824 births 1895 deaths

See also

References