author

Ali Haydar Mithat

1872–1950

Best known as the son and biographer of the Ottoman reformer Midhat Pasha, he wrote with the urgency of someone who had lived the upheavals he described. His work blends political history, personal memory, and a firsthand sense of exile.

1 Audiobook

The life of Midhat Pasha; a record of his services, political reforms, banishment, and judicial murder

The life of Midhat Pasha; a record of his services, political reforms, banishment, and judicial murder

by Ali Haydar Mithat

About the author

Ali Haydar Mithat was an Ottoman writer and memoirist born in 1872 and remembered especially for writing about his father, Midhat Pasha. Library and catalog records connect him with several works on his father’s life and career, and they also list his own memoir, Hâtıralarım, 1872-1946.

His best-known book in English is The Life of Midhat Pasha (1903), presented as a record drawn from private documents and reminiscences. In its preface, he describes having spent years in exile in Smyrna before leaving Ottoman territory, which gives the book a deeply personal tone alongside its historical and political purpose.

Because reliable biographical material on him is limited in the sources found here, some parts of his life remain only lightly documented in this overview. What is clear is that he wrote from close family knowledge and direct experience, making his books valuable for readers interested in late Ottoman politics, reform, and remembrance.