Nubar Nubarian, the first Prime Minister of the modern day Egypt, was born in Smyrna (Izmir) in 1825. He was the son of an Armenian merchant, Mgrdich Nubarian. His mother was a relative of Boghos Bey Yusufian, an influential minister of Muhammad Ali, Viceroy of Egypt (1805-1849) and the founder of the modern Egyptian state.