Previous   Next
Home » Images » 0007 Pictures From History » CPA0003114

France/ Turkey: A French engraving depicting the procession marking the arrival in March 1721 of the first Ottoman ambassador to France, Mehmet Efendi, and his entourage through the streets of Paris.

France/ Turkey: A French engraving depicting the procession marking the arrival in March 1721 of the first Ottoman ambassador to France, Mehmet Efendi, and his entourage through the streets of Paris.

Yirmisekiz Celebi Mehmet Efendi was a military inspector in the Ottoman armies who rose to be a diplomat and was selected by Sultan Ahmed III to be the empire’s first ambassador to Loius XV’s France. He was also a poet writing under the pen name ‘Faizi’. He wrote a compelling record of his experiences in France in the Turkish book of diplomatic travels, ‘Sefaretname’.

Quick links to other images in this gallery: