Mezzomorto

{{Short description|Ottoman-Spanish military and political official}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Hussein Mezzomorto | title = Dey of Algiers | image = Conterfan dess Mezomorto gewesten Daÿ in Algier, iezünd Capitan Bassa der Flotten dess Gross Türcken .jpg | caption = Mezzomorto as a Grand Admiral. | succession = Admiral of Algiers | reign = 1671–1683 | predecessor = Mohammed Trik | successor = Hadj Ahmed Chabane | house = {{flagicon image|Flag of Algiers.jpg}} State of Algiers | house-type = Country | occupation = Captain then Dey | religion = Islam | succession1 = 3rd Dey of Algiers | reign1 = 1683–1688 | predecessor1 = Baba Hassan | successor1 = Hadj Ahmed Chabane | succession2 = Kapudan Pasha | reign2 = 1695–1701 | module = {{Infobox military person |embed=yes | battles = {{tree list}}

*Franco-Algerian war (1681–1688) *Morean War **Battle of the Oinousses Islands **Battle of Zeytinburnu **Battle of Andros (1696) {{tree list/end}} }} | birth_date = 17th century | birth_place = Barbary Coast<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bromley |first=J. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OOgzAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA566 |title=The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume 6, The Rise of Great Britain and Russia, 1688-1715/25 |date=1970-07-02 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-07524-4 |pages=566 |language=en}}</ref> | death_date = 1701 | death_place = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg}} Chios | burial_date = 1701 | burial_place = }} [[File:Mezamorta Hüseyin Paşa büstü.JPG|185px|thumbnail|right|Bust of Mezzo Morto Hüseyin Pasha in the Mersin Naval Museum.]]

'''Hussein Mezzomorto''' (d. 1701) or '''Hajji Husain Mezzomorto''' was an Algerian corsair,<ref name="E.J. van Donzel">{{cite book|author=E.J. van Donzel|title=Islamic Desk Reference Compiled from The Encyclopaedia of Islam|year=2022|publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-50505-6|pages=140}}</ref> Dey of Algiers, and finally Grand Admiral (Kapudan Pasha) of the Ottoman Navy. His epithet ''mezzomorto'' is the Italian for "half-dead" and was acquired during a fight with the Spaniards,<ref>Orhonlu, C. "Hadjdji Husayn Pasha." ''Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition''. Vol. III. Ed. B. Lewis, V.L. Menage, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1971. p. 629.</ref> when he was gravely injured.

==Biography==

Hussein Mezzo morto was a North African born of Moorish parents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Argenti |first=Philip Pandely |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7EBAAAAMAAJ |title=The Occupation of Chios by the Venetians (1694): Described in Contemporary Diplomatic Reports and Official Dispatches |date=1935 |publisher=John Lane |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Laurent |first=Peter Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vF5dAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA36 |title=Recollections Of A Classical Tour Through Various Parts Of Greece, Turkey, And Italy, Made In The Years 1818 & 1819: Illustrated With Coloured Plates |date=1821 |publisher=G. And W.B. Whittaker |language=en|pages=36}}</ref> Mezzomorto was mentioned as a captain in 1674. He rose to prominence during the French attacks on Algiers in the early 1680s. He was present for Abraham Duquesne's 1682 bombardment and commanded a fleet of corsairs the next year. The dey of Algiers Baba Hassan handed him over as a hostage to the French, but Mezzomorto persuaded the French admiral to send him back to shore, where he led an insurrection against Baba Hassan, killed him, and took over as dey of Algiers.<ref name="Orhonlu p. 629">Orhonlu, "Hadjdji Husayn Pasha." p. 629.</ref> He then opened fire on the French fleet, forcing Duquesne to raise his blockade. During the 1684 bombardment, he signed a "100 year" treaty with Duquesne. However, the French fleet bombarded Algiers again in 1688, and Mezzomorto retaliated with attacks on the French coast.

As dey of Algiers, Mezzomorto took part in the Morean War between the Ottomans and Venetians in 1686. He then commanded the fleet in the Danube in 1690, and afterward in the Black Sea. The Venetian threat to the Ottomans' Aegean possessions led to Mezzomorto's appointment as sanjak-bey of Rhodes in 1691.<ref name="Orhonlu p. 629"/>

He was held captive by the Venetians for many years, knew them intimately, and swore revenge the day he was freed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MEZZOMORTO HÜSEYİN PAŞA - Osmanlı Hikayeleri - ehlisunnetbuyukleri.com {{!}} İslam Alimleri {{!}} Evliya Hayatları |url=https://www.ehlisunnetbuyukleri.com/Menkibeler/Osmanli-Hikayeleri/Detay/MEZZOMORTO-HUSEYIN-PASA/160 |access-date=2025-09-17 |website=ehlisunnetbuyukleri.com |language=tr}}</ref>

Distinguishing himself during the reconquest of Chios in early 1695, he was promoted to Kapudan Pasha, acquiring lordship over the Province of the Islands. His primary goal was to expel the Venetians from the Aegean. He defeated a Venetian fleet off Lesbos in September 1695, preventing it from reaching Chios. He commanded at the Battle of Andros in 1696, and on July 5, 1697, defeated a Venetian fleet off Tenedos. On September 3 he scored another victory, this time off Andros. A battle off Lesbos on September 21, 1698, was interpreted as a victory by each side.<ref name="Orhonlu p. 629"/>

With the support of Sultan Mustafa II, Mezzomorto began a reform of the navy. His reforms were compiled into a book of regulations, the ''Kannunname'', published shortly before his death in 1701. He was buried on Chios.

==References== {{reflist}} :''Corsari del Mediterraneo''. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150930110254/http://www.corsaridelmediterraneo.it/corsari/m/mezzomorto-hassan Mezzomorto Hassan]". {{in lang|it}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huseyin}} Category:17th-century births Category:1701 deaths Category:Rulers of the Regency of Algiers Category:Pashas Category:Privateers from the Ottoman Empire Category:Ottoman people of the Great Turkish War Category:Kapudan Pashas Category:17th-century Algerian people Category:Algerian people of Spanish descent Category:People of the Morean War Category:Converts to Islam