He was born in Bonnevale in 1675. His real name was Le Konte Claude Alexander de Bonnevale. He joined the French army as a private soldier and raised the lieutenant rank, in a few years. He was very successful especially in the sea wars. He was commissioned in the infantry, in 1698. He fought against Italy, in 1701. He lost his privilege, because of his words about one of the mistresses, of Louie XIV. He left the French army and escaped to Italy. He went to Austria from Italy. He had important missions in the Austrian army. He fought against France and against the Ottomans, in Varadin in 1716. He was promoted with marshal rank, after this war. But, after a while; all his ranks were taken back and he was imprisoned for 5 years. As he was forgiven, he went to Bosnia ruled by the Ottoman Empire. He converted to Islam and took the name of Ahmed. For a long time, he waited for permission; to go to Istanbul. In 1731, Topal Ahmed Pasha was appointed grand vizier and he wanted to reform the empire as Europe. Then he invited Ahmed Pasha to Istanbul. Ahmed Pasha came to Istanbul with a new artillery troop of 300 soldiers and 3 French officers converted to Islam. He established a modern artillery and he was given general rank. Although he lost his political influence for a while, Yegen Mehmed Pasha wanted to benefit from his knowledge about Austria. He was giving reports to the Ottoman Government about the political events in Europe. When he was waiting for the permission to return to France, he died in Istanbul, in 14^th March 1447.

©Copyright 1999 FORSNeT (All Rights Reserved)