Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, Ottoman politician, 43rd Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1506)

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha was an Ottoman statesman of Serb origin most notable for being the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. Born in Ottoman Herzegovina into an Orthodox Christian family, Mehmed was recruited as a young boy as part of so called "blood tax" to serve as a janissary to the Ottoman devşirme system of recruiting Christian boys to be raised as officers or administrators for the state. He rose through the ranks of the Ottoman imperial system, eventually holding positions as commander of the imperial guard (1543–1546), High Admiral of the Fleet (1546–1551), Governor-General of Rumelia (1551–1555), Third Vizier (1555–1561), Second Vizier (1561–1565), and as Grand Vizier under three sultans: Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and Murad III. He was assassinated in 1579, ending his near 15-years of service to several Sultans, as sole legal representative in the administration of state affairs.

The grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire was the de facto prime minister of the sultan in the Ottoman Empire, with the absolute power of attorney and, in principle, removable only by the sultan himself in the classical period, before the Tanzimat reforms, or until the 1908 Revolution. He held the imperial seal and could summon all other viziers to attend to affairs of the state in the Imperial Council; the viziers in conference were called "kubbe viziers" in reference to their meeting place, the Kubbealtı ('under-the-dome') in Topkapı Palace. His offices were located at the Sublime Porte.