Haile Selassie I

Early life

Tafari Makonnen was born on 23 July 1892 near Harar, in eastern Ethiopia. His father, Ras Makonnen Wolde Michael, was governor of Harar. In 1916, after the ruler Lij Iyasu was pushed aside, Zawditu became empress and the nobles named Ras Tafari regent and heir.

Emperor

When Zawditu died in April 1930, Tafari took the throne name Haile Selassie and was crowned on 2 November 1930. In July 1931 he issued Ethiopia's first written constitution, which strengthened central, imperial power.

Invasion and exile

In October 1935 Mussolini's Italy invaded Ethiopia. After a seven-month war, the emperor left the country on 2 May 1936 and went into exile in Britain. On 30 June 1936 he addressed the League of Nations to appeal for help, but the League did not act to save Ethiopia. During the Second World War British-led forces ended Italian control. He re-entered Ethiopia in January 1941 and returned to Addis Ababa on 5 May 1941.

Postwar reign

A revised constitution followed in November 1955. Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia in 1952, and the federation was dissolved in 1962. In December 1960 members of the security forces tried to seize power while he was abroad. The coup failed, but it exposed growing discontent. Abroad he became a senior statesman of independent Africa and helped found the Organization of African Unity in 1963, with its headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Fall and death

Drought and famine in the north, rising prices, and army mutinies in early 1974 undermined his government. On 12 September 1974 the military committee known as the Derg deposed him. He died in Addis Ababa on 27 August 1975 while in custody. The official account gave natural causes, but other accounts say he was killed on the government's orders. His remains were found in 1992 and reburied at Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa in November 2000.

Legacy

On the day he died, US President Gerald Ford called him "a towering leader" and praised his work for cooperation among African states. Many remember him as a symbol of African independence. Others criticise his concentration of power and his government's record in the famines of 1972–74, which BlackPast says killed about 80,000 people. In the Rastafari movement, which arose in Jamaica, he is revered as a messiah or divine figure. His state visit to Jamaica on 21 April 1966 is commemorated by Rastafari as Grounation Day.