Khedival Secretary: 1843-1863
Before he was 18 he went to Egypt, and after 18 months training as secretary to Boghos Bey, who was then minister of both commerce and foreign affairs, he was made second secretary to Muhammad Ali. In 1845 he became first secretary to Ibrahim Pasha, the heir apparent, and accompanied him on a special mission to Europe.
Abbas Pasha, who succeeded Ibrahim as Viceroy in 1848, maintained Nubar in the same capacity, and sent him in 1850 to London as his representative to oppose the pretensions of the Ottoman sultan, who was seeking to evade the conditions of the treaty under which Egypt was secured to the family of Muhammad Ali. After his success in London, he was made a bey; in 1853 he was sent to Vienna on a similar mission, and remained there until the death of Abbas in July 1854.
The new viceroy, Said, immediately dismissed him from office, but two years afterwards appointed him as his chief secretary, and later put him in charge of the important transport service through Egypt to India. Here Nubar was instrumental in the completion of railway communication between Cairo and Suez, and reportedly showed strong organising ability combined with readiness of resource. After again being dismissed by Said's, he was again sent to Vienna, and returned as principal secretary to Said, a position he held until Said's death in January 1863.
When Ismail Pasha ascended, Nubar was already on friendly terms with him; he even claimed to have saved his life. After the two decided not to take a train on 14 May 1858 which resulted in a crash and the death of the prince Ahmed, who would otherwise have succeeded Said. Ismail, himself a reportedly more capable man than his immediate predecessors, charged Nubar with a mission to Constantinople, not only to notify his accession, but to smooth the way for the many ambitious projects he already entertained, notably the completion of the Suez Canal, the change in title to that of khedive and the change in the order of succession.
In the first of these he was completely successful; the sultan, who did not think the project would succeed, gave his consent at a price the moderation. The pleased Ismail created Nubar a pasha, and the sultan himself, persuaded to visit Cairo, confirmed the title rarely given to a Christian. Nubar was then sent to Paris to complete the arrangements, and to settle the differences between Egypt and the Canal Company. He left these differences to the arbitration of the emperor Napoleon III and cost Egypt four million pounds sterling.
