[THE LAST OTTOMAN CHIEF OF THE STATE COUNCIL] Autograph document signed 'Sûrâ-yi Devlet reisi Tevfik'.

Original manuscript autograph document signed by Mehmed Tevfik Biren. 33,5x20 cm. Folded. 1 p. In Ottoman script. Dated 25 Saban [1]338 [AH]. Letterhead of 'Sûrâ-yi Devlet' addressed to 'Bâb-i Âlî Teshilât Sandigi Komisyonu'. Biren served as a high-ranking statesman such as the Minister and the Governor in the last period of the Ottoman Empire. Also he was last chief of the council of the state [i.e. Shûrâ al-Devlet]. Mehmet Tevfik Bey was born in 1867 in Istanbul. His father was a high-ranking statesman in the Ministry of Education. After graduating from Mekteb-i Mulkiye in 1885, at the age of 18, he started his first duty as the clerk of Abdulhamid II at Yildiz Palace. From 1897 to 1901 he served as the Governor of Jerusalem. After that he was appointed as the Governor of Thessaloniki. He was the governor of Yemen between 1904-1905. He became the Minister of Finance in the last years of the Ottoman Empire. He participated in the negotiations of the Treaty of Sevres signed in 1920. He was last appointed on 19 August 1921 as the 'Sûrâ re'isi'. He continued this duty until the abolition of the Sultanate on 4 November 1922. Thus, he was the last 'al-Shura' of the Ottoman Empire. After the proclamation of the Republic, he left the state. (Wikipedia).

Lingue: Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928)