Ahmet Mithat was an Ottoman journalist, author, translator, and publisher during the Tanzimat period. In his works, he was known as Ahmet Mithat Efendi, in order to distinguish him from the contemporary politician Midhat Pasha. Ahmet Mithat Efendi adopted his name in homage to Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha, with whom he had been associated professionally, serving as an official and newspaper editor in Midhat Pasha's Vilayet of the Danube.

He was a prolific writer, with more than 250 of his works having survived to the present day. In 1878, he began publishing a newspaper entitled Tercüman-ı Hakikat (Interpreter of Truth). Prior to this, he was a contributor to Basiret, a newspaper published between 1870 and 1879. His editorship and publication of Olga Lebedeva's translations of Russian literature into Turkish served as an introduction of Tolstoy, Lermontov, and Pushkin to Turkey's readership. Additionally, he was a patron and teacher to Fatma Aliye, one of the most renowned female Ottoman authors.