BBC Africa Sylvia Pankhurst’s love of Ethiopia had its genesis in opposition to Italian colonialism Just inside the entrance of the Addis Ababa home of British historian Richard Pankhurst hangs a black and white photo of his suffragette mother, Sylvia Pankhurst. She is pictured wearing a long and elaborate Edwardian dress with sleeves to her…
By Allison Miller, Historians Asked how she came to translate the life story of Walatta Petros, a 17th-century Ethiopian woman saint, Wendy Belcher jokes that the story takes a while to tell. She’s right. Just published by Princeton University Press,The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros, written by a monk in 1672, which Belcher…
By SERGEI GURIEV and DANIEL TREISMAN NY Times THE standard image of dictatorship is of a government sustained by violence. In 20th-century totalitarian systems, tyrants like Stalin, Hitler and Mao murdered millions in the name of outlandish ideologies. Strongmen like Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire left trails of blood. But in recent decades, a new…
Press Statement Marie Harf Deputy Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC May 27, 2015 The United States commends the people of Ethiopia for their civic participation in generally peaceful parliamentary and regional elections on May 24. We acknowledge the National Electoral Board’s organizational efforts and the African Union’s role as the only international…
By Richard Ingham Paris (AFP) – In 1974, anthropologists in Ethiopia found the astonishing fossilised remains of a human-like creature who last walked the planet some 3.2 million years ago. Was “Lucy,” as the hominid was called, the direct ancestor of Homo sapiens? Was she “The Mother of Mankind,” as some headlines claimed? Over the…
By Fekadu Bekele (PhD) What does Adowa mean for Ethiopians and the rest of Africa? What is left from the Victory of Adowa? What do we owe our patriotic mothers and fathers who saved Ethiopia from Colonial Domination? Introduction To write an article on such a major issue might seem too late. Many have written…
By Wallelign Mekonnen turns 70 on 22 March 2015. The full text of his article: On the Question of Nationalities in Ethiopia This article was written by Walleligne Mekonnen and published in the magazine called STRUGGLE; it’s probably the most famous article in Ethiopian politics. It was written while Walleligne Mekonnen was a fourth year political…
By G. E. Gorfu For most people of this and even the previous generation the name Bashai Awalom might not be one readily recognized, but the man was a key figure in Ethiopian history during the war against the Italian Invasion of Ethiopia of 1896. The role Bashai Awalom played at that time was so…
By M R Reese The Tiya stones are part of an archaeological site located in central Ethiopia, in an area known as the Gurage Zone. The 46 large, decorated Tiya megaliths have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the construction of such megaliths is an ancient tradition in Ethiopia, the Tiya stones are…
2nd century AD – Kingdom of Axum becomes a regional trading power. 4th century – Coptic Christianity introduced from Egypt. King Ezana’s Stele: One of the 1700-year old obelisks erected by the Kingdom of Axum Ethiopia unveils ancient obelisk 1530-31 – Muslim leader Ahmad Gran conquers much of Ethiopia. 1818-68 – Lij Kasa conquers…