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| Haile Selassie (The Holy Trinity or Power of The Trinity) (July 23, 1892 - August 27, 1975) The last Emperor (1930 - 1936; 1941 - 1974) of Ethiopia. Selassie was born in the town-village of Ejersa Goro, Ethiopia, as Tafari Makonnen to father Ras Makonnen, the governor of Harar and to mother Wezero (lady) Yeshimebet Ali. He didn't remember his mother, who died on March 14, 1894. In September 1916, an assembly of nobles with the agreement of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church deposed Emperor Lij Iyasu (Iyasu V), the grandson and heir of Emperor Menelik II, for suspected conversion to Islam. In his place they crowned Menelik's daughter Zauditu as Empress of Ethiopia and her cousin Ras (Duke) Tafari as Crown Prince and Regent. As Ras Tafari (Amharic Fearsome), he ruled Ethiopia as regent and crown prince (1916 - 1928) for his cousin the empress Zauditu, and as King (Negus) (1928 - 1930), assuming the title of Emperor upon Zauditu's death (April 2, 1930). He was crowned Emperor November 2, 1930. He was fully titled, His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia. In 1911 he married Wayzaro Menen Asfaw, daughter of the Jantirar Asfaw of Ambassel and maternal granddaughter of King Mikael of Wolo. Emperor Haile Selassie and Empress Menen were the parents of six children, Princess Tenagnework, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen, Princess Tsehai, Princess Zenebework, Prince Makonnen Duke of Harar, and Prince Sahle Selassie. Emperor Haile Selassie I by a previous marriage, had a daughter, Princess Romanework. Emperor Haile Selassie I developed the policy of careful modernisation initiated by Emperor Menelik II, securing Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations in 1923 and enacting the country's first constitution in 1931. He also abolished slavery in the Empire in 1923. The League's failure to stop the Second Italo-Ethiopian War--Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935--led to five years in exile, during which he was based at Bath in England. Returning in 1941 after Italy's defeat in Ethiopia by British and Ethiopian patriotic forces, he introduced a revised constitution (November 1955) under which he retained effective power while extending political participation. In 1963 he presided over the establishment of the Organization of African Unity and convinced the new organization to set up its headquarters in Addis Ababa. Following an abortive coup attempt (December 1960) he pursued more conservative policies, aligning Ethiopia with the West against more radical African governments. His policies contributed to his deposition on September 12, 1974 following a military coup. The media at the time reported that Selassie died in prison on August 27, 1975. officially following a prostate operation; however, it is widely believed by historians that he was strangled and his remains buried beneath the president's personal office. (On November 5th, 2000, the late Emperor was granted a formal funeral.) Amongst followers of Rastafarianism, a religion which developed in the 1930s in Jamaica under the influence of Marcus Mosiah Garvey's "Back to Africa" movement, Haile Selassie I is regarded as a Black messiah who will lead the peoples of Africa and the African diaspora to freedom. Most Rastafarians believe that Selassie is still alive, and that his widely reported death was part of a conspiracy to discredit their religion. The Emperor himself, a devout Christian, was opposed to the Rastafarians' belief in him as messiah. A state visit to Jamaica in 1966, during which Haile Selassie I was greeted by massive screaming crowds, was reportedly quite extraordinary for the monarch. After the visit, the Emperor is said to have told Ethiopian Orthodox Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq: "There is a problem in Jamaica.... Please, help these people. They are misunderstanding, they do not understand our culture.... They need a church... to be established and you are chosen to go." The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was established in Jamaica to convert the Rastafarians to Christianity. The Emperor's seat as a Knight of the Garter in St. George's Chapel had the unusual feature of a double-sided banner, one side representing the Emperor of Ethiopia, and the other for the Lion of Judah. He had originally asked for two seats. |
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| Emperor Haile Selassie I |
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