He was born in 1853 in Istanbul, son of İzzet Efendić, a member of the Ottoman Council of State (Şûrâ-yı Devlet) and Governor of Beirut and Sidon in 1857, who was born in the village of Potoci near Pljevlja, in today's Montenegro. In 1879, Ferid was enrolled at the Schools of Islamic charities in Sidon. He served several positions in Ottoman administration before he entered the foreign office of the Ottoman Empire and was assigned to different posts at embassies in Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, and London. He married a daughter of Abdülmecid I, Mediha Sultan, which earned him the title of "Damat" ("bridegroom" to the Ottoman dynasty). Like his father, he became a member of the Şûrâ-yı Devlet in 1884 and earned the title of vizier soon afterwards. Refused the post of ambassador in London b