Rüstem Pasha

Rüstem Opuković
32nd Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office
28 November 1544  6 October 1553
MonarchSüleyman I
Preceded byHadım Süleyman Pasha
Succeeded byKara Ahmed Pasha
In office
29 September 1555  10 July 1561
MonarchSüleyman I
Preceded byKara Ahmed Pasha
Succeeded bySemiz Ali Pasha
Personal details
Bornc.1505
Skradin or Sarajevo or Makarska or elsewhere
Died10 July 1561(1561-07-10) (aged 55–56)
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey)
Resting placeŞehzade Mosque
Spouse
(m. 1539)
RelationsSinan Pasha (brother)
ChildrenAyşe Hümaşah Sultan
Sultanzade Osman Bey

Rüstem Pasha (Turkish pronunciation: [ɾysˈtæm pa.ʃa]; Ottoman Turkish: رستم پاشا; c. 1505 – 10 July 1561) was an Ottoman statesman who served as Grand Vizier to Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Rüstem Pasha is also known as Damat Rüstem Pasha (the epithet damat meaning 'son-in-law') as a result of his marriage to the sultan's daughter, Mihrimah Sultan, in 1539. He is regarded as one of the most influential and successful grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire.

Rustem Pasha was taken as a child to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), where he built a military and bureaucratic career under the protection of Hürrem Sultan, Süleyman's favorite and legal wife and Mihrimah's mother. His brother Sinan Pasha was an Ottoman grand admiral.