Background
Ahmed Vefik Pasha was born on July 3, 1823 in Constantinople. Ahmed Vefik Pasha was born of Greek extraction, his ancestors having previously converted to Islam, like many other Greek Muslims particularly from Crete (Cretan Turks) and the regions of Epirus and Greek Macedonia in northwestern Greece. He was the son of Rouheddin Effendi, at one time charge d'affaires in Paris