Mezzo Morto Huseyin Pasha

Hussein Mezzomorto (Turkish: Mezamorta Hüseyin Paşa; died 1701) or Hajji Husain Mezzomorto (Turkish: Hacı Hüseyin Mezamorta) was an Ottoman privateer, bey, and finally Kapudan Pasha (grand admiral) of the Ottoman Navy. His epithet mezzomorto is the Italian for "half-dead" and was acquired during a fight with the Spaniards, when he was gravely injured.

Possibly Turk or a converted Christian from Mallorca, Mezzomorto was mentioned as a captain in 1674. He rose to prominence during the French attacks on Algiers in the early 1680s. He was present for Abraham Duquesne's 1682 bombardment and commanded a fleet of corsairs the next year. The bey of Algiers Baba Hassan handed him over as a hostage to the French, but Mezzomorto persuaded the French admiral to send him back to shore, where he led an insurrection against Baba Hassan, killed him, and took over as bey of Algiers. He then opened fire on the French fleet, forcing Duquesne to raise his blockade. During the 1684 bombardment, he signed a "100 year" treaty with Duquesne. However, the French fleet bombarded Algiers again in 1688, and Mezzomorto retaliated with attacks on the French coast.

As beylerbey of Algiers, Mezzomorto took part in the Morean War between the Turks and Venetians in 1686. He then commanded the fleet in the Danube in 1690, and afterward in the Black Sea. The Venetian threat to the Ottomans' Aegean possessions led to Mezzomorto's appointment as sanjak-bey of Rhodes in 1691.

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