ÂSÂF (Mahmud Celaleddin Paşa)

Poet and statesman (b. 1853, İstanbul - d. 1903, Brussels). He used the pen name Âsâf for his poems. His real name was Mahmud Celaleddin and he was known as Damat Mahmut Paşa after his marriage to Seniha Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Abdülmecid. He was later connected to Feyzullah Efendi, a sheikh of the Halidiye order.

After serving in various posts at the palace, he worked as a member of Council of State and Minister of Interior Affairs (1878). He was dismissed because of his actions against Abdülhamit II and fled to Europe with his sons. He continued his actions together with the Young Turks in Paris and London, which led to the stripping of his rank and he was ordered to be executed.

He spent his last years in exile in Europe. Five years after his death in Brussels, his bones were brought to İstanbul and buried in Eyüp Sultan Graveyard. Although the poems in his Divan (Divan*) were deeply influenced by nazire* (imitation poetry) and Namık Kemal, he gained huge fame during his lifetime. His Divan (Divan*) was published in Egypt in 1898.