Isma'il Pasha of Egypt

Isma'il Pasha (Arabic: إسماعيل باشا Ismā‘īl Bāshā; 25 November 1830 or 31 December 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as Ismail the Magnificent, was the Khedive of Egypt and ruler of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain and France. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, he greatly modernized Egypt and Sudan during his reign, investing heavily in industrial and economic development, urbanization, and the expansion of the country's boundaries in Africa.

His philosophy can be glimpsed in a statement that he made in 1879: "My country is no longer only in Africa; we are now part of Europe, too. It is therefore natural for us to abandon our former ways and to adopt a new system adapted to our social conditions".

In 1867, in exchange of a hefty financial compensation to the Ottoman Sultan, he secured a firman for the recognition for his title of Khedive (Viceroy) in preference to Wāli (Governor), which was previously used by his predecessors in the Eyalet of Egypt and Sudan (1517–1867), and also for the exclusivity of the transfer of this title to only his direct descendants, thereby excluding all other members of Muhammed Ali's family from the line of succession. However, Isma'il's policies placed the Khedivate of Egypt and Sudan (1867–1914) in severe debt, leading to the sale of the country's shares in the Suez Canal Company to the British government, and his ultimate toppling from power in 1879 under British and French pressure.

The city of Ismailia is named in his honor.