Amha Selassie of Ethiopia

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Amha Selassie I
Emperor of Ethiopia (in exile)

Asfaw Wossen, on a voyage to Jerusalem in 1923
Reign April 8, 1989 - February 17, 1997 proclaimed in exile and accepted by him as legitimate.
Coronation Never Crowned
Born July 27, 1916
Birthplace Governors Palace, Harrar
Died February 17, 1997 (aged 80)
Place of death McLean, Virginia
Predecessor Haile Selassie I
Heir-Apparent Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, Crown Prince of Ethiopia
Consort Empress Medferiashwork Abebe
Issue Ijigayehu
Maryam Senna
Sehin Azebe
Sifrash Bizu
Zera Yacob
Royal House House of Solomon
Royal anthem Ityopia Hoy Des Yibelish
Father Emperor Haile Selassie I
Mother Empress Menen

Amha Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, (July 27, 1916–February 17, 1997) was the last Emperor of Ethiopia. First proclaimed Emperor during the unsuccessful coup attempt by the Imperial Guards against his father Haile Selassie I in December 1960, he initially went along with this proclamation under duress. The coup collapsed within days and the Emperor was restored. He was again proclaimed on the deposition of his father by the Derg on September 12, 1974, but he never accepted this proclamation as legitimate, and in any case this brief reign was ended with the abolition of the Ethiopian monarchy in March 1975. He was proclaimed in exile on April 8, 1989 and this time he sanctioned the proclamation and accepted its legitimacy.

Born as Asfaw Wossen Taffari, in the walled city of Harrar, to Dejazmach Tafari Makonnen, then the governor of Harrar and future Emperor of Ethiopia, and his wife Menen Asfaw, on 27 July 1916. After his accession his full reign name was His Imperial Majesty Emperor Amha Selassie I, Elect of God, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah and King of Kings of Ethiopia.

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[edit] Biography

Amha Selassie became Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen of Ethiopia when his father was crowned Emperor on November 2, 1930. Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen was granted the title of "Meridazmach" and the province (former kingdom) of Wollo to rule as his fief. He was married to Princess Wolete Israel Seyoum, great-granddaughter of Emperor Yohannis IV, and had a daughter, Princess Ijigayehu. Following the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1936, the Crown Prince and Princess went into exile with the rest of the Imperial family. They separated around 1938, and eventually divorced in 1941.

Following Emperor Haile Selassie's restoration in 1941, the Crown Prince returned to Ethiopia, and participated in the campaign to drive the Italian forces out of the city of Gondar, the last town they held in Ethiopia. He briefly served as acting governor of the provinces of Begemder and Tigray, retaining Wollo the entire time. He was eventually remarried to Princess Medferiashwork Abebe, and would father three more daughters, Princesses Mariam Senna, Sefrash, Sehin, and a son Prince Zera Yacob Amha Selassie.

In December 1960, the Imperial Guard launched a coup and seized power in Ethiopia while the Emperor was on a visit to Brazil. The coup leaders compelled the Crown Prince to read a radio statement, in which he accepted the crown in his father's place and announced a government of reform. However, the regular army and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church both refused to accept the new government, and the leader of the church, Patriarch Abuna Baslios, issued an anathema against all those who cooperated with the coup leaders. The Emperor returned to Ethiopia and the Army stormed the palace where members of the government were being held prisoner by the Imperial Guards. The Guards fled, but not before killing many members of the government and the nobility that had been held prisoner in the Green Salon of the palace. Although it was explained that the Crown Prince had acted under duress, his outlook had long been regarded as considerably more liberal than that of his father, and so he would always be suspected of having been a willing participant in the coup attempt.

In 1973, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen suffered a massive stroke and was evacuated to Switzerland for medical treatment. He was accompanied by his wife and daughters. The stroke left him permanently unable to walk, paralyzed on one side, and affected his speech. As Prince Asfaw Wossen was not expected to live, his son, Prince Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, a student at Cambridge at the time, was named "Acting Crown Prince" and "Heir Presumptive".

[edit] Short reign

The so-called "reign" of Amha Selassie in 1974 was in name only between the deposition of his father on 12 September 1974 until the abolition of the monarchy in the March of 1975. Haile Selassie I never signed an abdication, nor did he renounce his rights. The military junta declared the Crown Prince "King" instead of "Emperor", but he never acknowledged the title nor accepted his father's dethronement. When the new government massacred the 61 ex-officials of the Imperial government, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen issued a strong denunciation that was broadcast on the BBC. The statement was issued in the name of "Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen" which indicated that he was refusing to recognize the Derg's declaration of him as monarch in his father's place. He continued to use the title of Crown Prince during his exile until April of 1989 when he finally assumed the title of Emperor with the reign name of Amha Selassie I. His succession was back-dated, not to September 1974 when his father was deposed, but to August 1975 when Emperor Haile Selassie died. He thus confirmed his refusal to regard any of the acts carried out by the Derg regime as legitimate or legal.

[edit] Life in exile

On September 12, 1974, the Marxist Derg military junta deposed Emperor Haile Selassie and declared that Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen would be anointed "King" and a constitutional monarch upon his return from medical treatment in Geneva, Switzerland. The Prince did not recognize this proclamation and did not return to Ethiopia. When instead he announced to the Ethiopian Embassy in London that he would be moving to that city shortly, the Embassy asked the Derg for instructions as to whether it should receive him as King and head-of-state, or if it should receive him as Crown Prince upon his arrival in Britain. The Derg sternly replied that he should be received as a simple citizen of Ethiopia and that no royal dignities were to be accorded to the Prince or his family. The revolutionaries soon showed their true colors and abolished the monarchy in March of 1975, and Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen settled permanently in London, where several other members of the Imperial family were already based. The other members of the Imperial family who were still in Ethiopia at the time of the revolution were imprisoned, including Amha Selassie's father the Emperor, his daughter by his first marriage, Princess Ijigayehu, his sister Princess Tenagnework and many of his nephews, nieces, relatives and in-laws. In 1975, first his daughter Princess Ijigayehu, and then his father Emperor Haile Selassie died in detention. Members of the Imperial family would remain imprisoned until 1988 (for the women) and 1989 (for the men).

In April 1989, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen was proclaimed "Emperor of Ethiopia" in exile, at his home in London by members of the exiled Ethiopian community. He took the throne name of Amha Selassie I. His wife began also using the title of "Empress". A year later, the Emperor and Empress in exile moved to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. to be close to the large Ethiopian Immigrant population there.

In 1991, with the fall of the Derg, and the coming to power of the EPRDF in Ethiopia, Amha Selassie founded the Moa Ambassa Monarchist Movement to promote a monarchial restoration in Ethiopia and announced his intention to return to his country for a visit. However, following the disinterment of the remains of Emperor Haile Selassie, a dispute erupted between the Imperial family and the new government over the status of a funeral that was planned for the late Emperor. The government refused to give Haile Selassie a state funeral, and as a result, the funeral, and the return of Amha Selassie was indefinitely postponed.

Amha Selassie died after long illnesses in the U.S. state of Virginia at age 80 on February 17, 1997. He had never completely recovered from the massive stroke he experienced in 1973. His body was flown back to Ethiopia and buried in the Imperial family vaults at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa in a huge ceremonial funeral presided over by Patriarch Abune Paulos.

[edit] Orders, decorations and honours

[edit] Orders and decorations

Like his father, Amha Selassie obtained many orders. These included:

[edit] Honorary military ranks

Amha Selassie held the following military ranks:[1]

[edit] External links

Amha Selassie of Ethiopia
Born: August 1916 Died: 17 February 1997
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Haile Selassie I		 — TITULAR —
Emperor of Ethiopia
April 8, 1989 - February 17, 1997
Reason for succession failure:
Empire abolished in 1975		 Succeeded by
Zera Yacob Amha Selassie
Languages