Claude Alexandre de Bonneval

Claude Alexandre, Count of Bonneval (14 July 1675 – 23 March 1747), was a French army officer who later went into the service of the Ottoman Empire, eventually converting to Islam and becoming known as Humbaracı Ahmet Paşa.

Life

Descended from an old noble family of Limousin, France, originally knights of the castle in the viscounty of Ségur, Bonneval was sent to a Jesuit college after his father’s death. Admiral and Marshal of France, Tourville, a relative considered by some as one of the most talented naval officers in French military history, secured his entry into the navy at the age of thirteen. He distinguished himself in the battles of Dieppe, La Hougue, and Cadiz, where Marshal de Tourville commanded the French fleet. Disillusioned with the navy following a matter of honor, Bonneval purchased a commission in the elite French Guards Regiment in 1698, where he remained until 1701.

The descendant of an old family of Limousin, France, Alexandre joined the Royal Marine Corps at the age of thirteen. After three years he entered the army and eventually rose to command a regiment. He served in the Italian campaigns under Catinat, Villeroy and Vendôme, and in the Netherlands under Luxembourg, showing indomitable courage and great military ability. However, his insolent attitude towards the minister of war led to a court martial (1704) in which he was condemned to death. He saved himself by fleeing to Germany.

Through the influence of Prince Eugene of Savoy he obtained a general's command in the Austrian army, and fought with great bravery and distinction against France and afterwards against the Ottoman Empire.

He rendered valuable services to the sultan in his war with Russia, and with the famous Nader Shah of Iran. As a reward he received the governorship of Chios. However, he then fell under the suspicion of the Sublime Porte (the Ottoman administration) and was banished for a time to the shores of the Black Sea. He died at Constantinople in March 1747 and is buried in the cemetery attached to the Galata, Mevlevihane. Kumbaracı Sokaği, also in Galata, is named after him (kumbaracı being the modern spelling for humbaracı), making him a rare foreigner to have received such an accolade in modern Istanbul.

The Memoirs published under his name are spurious. Prince de Ligne, Mémoire sur le comte de Bonneval (Paris, 1817); A. Vandal, Le Pacha Bonneval (Paris, 1885).