MELKAM LIDET AMHA SELASSIE I!!!
Crown Prince Merid Azmatch Asfa Wossen — who later would become Emperor Amha
Selassie I — was born in Harar, Ethiopia, on Hamle 20, 1908, by the Ethiopian
calendar: July 27, 1916, by the Western calendar. When he reached school age he was
first taught by a tutor in the Palace and later enrolled in Teferi Makonnen School. He
then continued his higher education at Liverpool University, in the United Kingdom,
where he received his degree in Political Science and Public Administration.
From his first marriage to Princess Wolete Israel, the couple gave birth to Princess
Ejigayehu. Crown Prince Asfa Wossen was then wed to Princess Medferiash Work
Abebe, and established a family of four children, including HIH Prince Zere Yacob
Amha Selassie, who was later himself named Crown Prince.
During the coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1930, Prince Asfa Wossen was
confirmed as Crown Prince and heir to the throne.
Besides fulfilling his various duties as Crown Prince, Emperor Amha Selassie served
his country as governor of the provinces of Begémdir, Tigré and Wollo at different
times. In these provinces, he carried out numerous development projects, including
the construction of roads, hospitals, and numerous schools and orphanages. He also
served on the Crown Council — often acting as President in the Emperor’s absence —
and as Chairman of the Ethiopian Red Cross.
In the war against Italian occupation (1935-1941), the young Crown Prince acted as
the right hand of the Emperor in every international diplomatic campaign to get
material and moral support for the resistance. At the age of 20, he was leading his own
troops in battle. During some of this period, when the Italians occupied the country,
Crown Prince Asfa Wossen and his father organized the resistance from Jerusalem,
and then from a home in Bath, England. It was while he was in exile that the Crown
Prince attended Liverpool University. When the time came for re-entry to Ethiopia,
Crown Prince Asfa Wossen came via South Africa, while his father came through the
Sudan. The object was to ensure that, under any circumstances, the Crown would
survive the death of one or other of the two. And in the final battles to route the Italian
occupation forces in Ethiopia, it was Crown Prince Asfa Wossen who led the military
campaign against the Italian garrisons entrenched in and around Gondar city, thereby
flushing out the last remnants of Italian resistance.
Crown Prince Asfa Wossen suffered a sudden stroke in 1972, and was taken to
Switzerland in 1973 for medical care. And it was during this period of convalescence
that political turmoil broke out in Ethiopia and a coup led by a junior Army officer,
Mengistu Haile Mariam, dragged the country into an era of dictatorship and
oppression, civil war and economic decline. Crown Prince Asfa Wossen moved to
London to begin his exile, and while still trying to recover from the effects of the
stroke, he closely monitored events in Ethiopia, maintaining contact with resistance
movements inside and just outside the country.
The Crown Prince formed a Government-in-Exile in London, and it was this
Government along with the Crown Council which, on April 6, 1988, proclaimed him
Negusa Negest ze Ethiopia (King of Kings of Ethiopia). He took the Throne name
Amha Selassie I.
Emperor Amha Selassie I became the 226th ruler of Ethiopia since his forebear,
Menelik I, son of Solomon and Queen Makeda, took the throne some 3,000 years
earlier. During the ceremony proclaiming him Emperor, his wife, Princess Medferiash
Work Abebe, was named Empress, and his son, Prince Zere Yacob, was named Crown
Prince.
Just over a year later, on October 23, 1989, Emperor Amha Selassie moved to the
United States, which was home to many thousands of Ethiopian exiles. From there, he
began working with the Ethiopian exile community to further coordinate efforts to
restore a constitutional Monarchy and bring peace to Ethiopia. It was during this
period that a pro-Constitutional Monarchy movement called Mo’a Anbessa (literally,
“The Conquering Lion”) was formed. In an historic gathering on June 29, 1991, Mo’a
Anbessa announced its mission and proclaimed the Emperor as its Honorary
Chairman.
A “fact sheet” released by Mo’a Anbessa in February 1992 said that the organization
“transcends all parties, and its membership straddles across the boundaries of all
political organizations”. The organization pledged “its full support to all democratic
forces both within and outside Ethiopia who are dedicated to the cause of building a
pluralistic society and market-driven economy”. The statement added: “The weight
and moral authority of the monarchy can usefully co-exist and complement a
democratically-elected government, for example in Great Britain or Japan.”2
The Emperor, meanwhile, established the Haile Selassie I Peace Foundation, to
provide a range of humanitarian, educational medical aid services to Ethiopians
inside and outside the country.
Emperor Amha Selassie was, like his father, widely decorated by foreign governments
and leaders both during his period as Crown Prince, and later in Exile.
During a 1992 press conference at the National Press Club, in Washington DC, His
Imperial Majesty spoke of his plans to return soon to his native country where he
planned to enter peaceful negotiation with the administration which had seized
power from the outgoing Dergue in 1991. Ill health, however, dogged the Emperor,
whose mobility was severely hampered by the paralyzing effects of his 1972 stroke.
Emperor Amha Selassie died in the Washington DC area of the United States — at the
Fair Oaks Hospital, in Fairfax, Virginia — on January 17, 1997, at the age of 80. A large
turnout attended the Memorial Service for the Emperor in Washington DC. His body
was flown to Addis Ababa for a private funeral and, despite the lack of official publicity
surrounding the event, the Emperor’s return to his native land resulted in a massive
show of public sympathy. He was buried next to his two brothers at the Holy Trinity
Cathedral in Addis Ababa on Sunday, February 2, 1997.
But several years before his death, working with his advisors — and particularly the
Afe-Negus, Teshome Haile Mariam, the former Chief Justice of Ethiopia and former
Ethiopian Imperial Ambassador to the United States — the Emperor reconvened and
reconstituted the Ethiopian Crown Council. In doing this, he named his nephew, Prince
Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile Selassie, to the post of President of the Council, and his
grandson, Prince Bekere Fikre-Selassie as Viceroy or Enderassé.
The institutions built by Emperor Amha Selassie survive his passing: the
reconstituted Crown Council; the Haile Selassie I Peace Foundation; and Mo’a Anbessa
remain particularly active.
He was survived by his wife, Empress Medferiash Work Abebe; his son, Crown Prince
Zere Yacob Amha Selassie and Prince Zere Yacob’s sisters (Mariam Sena, Sehin,
Sefrash); his grandchildren from his first wife, Princess Wolete-Israel Seyoum, by his
eldest daughter Princess Ejig-Ayehu Amha Selassie (Samson, Rahel, Mehret, Bekere,
Aster and Yishaq); and his surviving sister, Princess Tenagne Work Haile Selassie.
+ May the Almighty God bless his memory eternal. +
Source: Tsega Tekle Haimanot ~ FB Post ~ 27 July 2020
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