Semiz Mehmed Pasha

Semiz Mehmed Pasha (1596 – July 1646) was an Ottoman grand vizier and a descendant of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Biography
He was born in 1596. His father, Sultanzade Abdurrahman Bey, was a son of Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan, daughter of Rustem Pasha and Mihrimah Sultan. His mother was Ayşe Hanım, daughter of Saliha Hanımsultan, sister of Abdurrahman, and Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha. He was a great-great-grandson of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hurrem Sultan. For this, he was nicknamed Sultanzade (lit. Sultan's descendant), although he had not really right to the title, since it was reserved for the sons of the Sultan's daughters or the sons of the Şehzade princes' daughters.

Early years
In 1637, he was appointed as the governor of Egypt. Three years later, during the reign of Ibrahim, he returned to Istanbul as a vizier in the Ottoman divan. In 1641, he was appointed as the governor of Özü (modern Ochakiv in Ukraine) and tasked with capturing the fort of Azak (modern Azov in Russia), which had recently been lost to the Cossacks. He was successful in recapturing the fort. In 1643, he was appointed as the governor of Damascus (in modern Syria). This appointment was probably due to the secret power struggle between him and the grand vizier, Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha.

Grand Vizier
In 1644, he succeeded the grand vizier Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha, who was executed. Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha was a victim of palace intrigues and a hodja quack named Djindji Khodja. Well aware of the hodja's influence on the sultan and the tragedy of the previous grand vizier, he was too cautious in governance and became an ineffective grand vizier. He became a yes man of the sultan. According to Lord Kinross, one day the sultan asked why he never opposed any opinion, to which he replied, "Every opinion of the sultan has a deep aphorism even if subjects are unable to understand." Although he was against declaring war on the Republic of Venice, his cautious objections were not taken into consideration and the Cretan War (1645–1669) soon began in 1645, which was financially disastrous to both sides.

Later years
Sultan Ibrahim deposed him in 1645 and sent him to Crete, the theatre of the recently started war, as the commander of the army (serdar). Shortly thereafter he died of natural causes.