[Reşat Ekrem Koçu (chief editor), Istanbul Encyclopaedia, vol. 5, n. pp. 2834-2835 - Istanbul, 1961.]
Born of French parents in Istanbul, Blacque Bey was the grandson of a lawyer and the son of a journalist.
At age eight or nine he was sent to study at Saint-Barbe College, Paris.
He returned to Istanbul in 1842 at age 18, was appointed a government translator, was editor of the semi-official newspaper in French, Courrier de Constantinople, 1846.
Fluent in Turkish, French, Italian, and English, his diplomatic posts included
Attaché and then First Secretary in Turkey’s Paris Embassy, 1853;
Turkish Consul in Naples, Italy, 1860;
Chargé d’Affairs at the newly opened Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., 1866; and
Turkish Minister to the U.S., 1866-73.
He was Director, Press Dept., Istanbul, 1876;
Member of the State Council, 1878;
Director, Sixth Municipal Dept., Istanbul, 1878-90;
Ambassador to Bucharest, 1890;
and again Director, Sixth Municipal Dept., Istanbul, 1891-95.
He was honored with diplomatic medals from several countries.
