Famous Ethiopian Men

We are used to hearing him referred to as Emperor Haile Selassie, but his full title was "His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and Elect of God"!

Haile Selassie was born into a noble family, trained from childhood for greater things. In the early 1900s, Haile Selassie ruled as regent together with Empress Zewditu. After her death, in 1930, he was crowned Emperor. Without a doubt, Haile Selasiie was a very clever man, it takes great skill to stay in power for half a century.

Portrait of Haile Selassie available from AllPosters

What we know is that he was very active, both in national and international politics. During his lead, Ethiopia became a member of the League of Nations. During the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s he gave his famous speech, addressing the League of Nations, calling on them to fight Italy and fascism.

During a terrbile famine in Ethiopia, in 1970, the Emperor was said to ignore the plight of his people. A revolution got under way, leading to his arrrest in 1974. Not long after this, he died- due to complications during an operation. Nobody beleived this explanation. An era in history was over.

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To many, Haile Selassie is mostly known for being worshipped by the Rastafarians. There are many stories about why this started, but one popular one is that his state visit to Jamaica finished a long period of drought. For sure we know that he did not mind being venerated by them. In fact, he gave them a piece of land, not far from Addis, in Shashemene where, until today there is a kind of Rastafarian colony.
Since Ethiopians claim that the king is a direct descendant from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, it is not so strange that this Messiah-kind of worship got started.

Historical picture of Rastafarians welcoming Emperor Haile Selassie to Jamaica available from AllPosters

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After the 2010 New York marathon, where he was forced to drop out because of injury, this amazing runner announced that he was retiring. He was born into a large family of ten children in the province of Arsi, Ethiopia. Every day he ran ten kilometers to go to school- laying the foundation for his life!
He started winning internationally already in 1992, when he was 19 years old. This was the beginning of a long and very fruitful career. During his fantastic career he has won eight world titles and 27 world best marks, breaking many world-records.

Of course, for a long time now, Haile Gebreselassie has been busy with other things besides running. He has a family, three children, to start with. He also runs a construction company, has built Ethiopia's first private cinema (which shows only Ethiopian made films). The cinema, as well as the gym in the same building, have been named after his wife-Alem. He has built two schools, and recently he opened a resort at Lake Awasa.

Read more about Haile Gebreselassie's life

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Marcus Samuelsson does not sound like an Ethiopian name, you might say. And you are right. This top chef was born in Ethiopia, but adopted by a Swedish family when he was three years old, together with his older sister.

After becoming interested in cooking because of his maternal grandmother in Sweden, Samuelsson studied at the Culinary Institute in Gothenburg, where he grew up, apprenticed in Switzerland and Austria, and came to the United States in 1991 as an apprentice at Restaurant Aquavit. At 24, Marcus became executive chef of Aquavit, and soon after that became the youngest ever to receive a three-star restaurant review from The New York Times.

He has written cook-books, been on TV-shows, has opened more restaurants, and now lives with his wife in Harlem! In addition he is active with the UNICEF to help children all over the world get access to clean drinkingwater.
On November 24, 2009, Samuelsson served as guest chef for the first state dinner of the Barack Obama presidency.

Picture by DykBtchWYrki

This man was also a marathon runner, winning two Olympic gold medals in marathon. He is famous for being the first black African to win an Olympic marathon.
From a humble background (his father was a shepherd) Abebe Bikila got work in the Imperial Bodyguard. At that time there was a Finnish man in Addis Ababa, asked by the government to find and train athletes. He got his eyes on Mr.Abebe! In 1960 they set off for the Olympics in Rome. Since the shoes he had been given did not fit him well, Abebe Bikila decided to run barefoot. (This was the way he usually trained.) Not only did he win the race, but he finished in record time.
After the race, when Bikila was asked why he had run barefoot, he replied, "I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism."

Continuing to run, with determination, in 1964 it was time again. He won the marathon again, setting a new world-record. He was the first athelte in history to win the Olympic marathon twice.
In 1969 he had a car accident, which eventually left him a paraplegic. He still attended the 1972 Olympics as a guest, but the following year he died of complications from his accident. 75000 attended his funeral.

Picture by ByEthiopian

Maitre Afewerk Tekle is Ethiopia's great artist. He has been creating art for decades, maybe most famous for his stain glass windows. Not only famous in his home-country,he has made a great name for himself internationally. His self-portrait can be found in the Uffizi Gallery in Italy. He has had exhibitions all over the world.

Read more about Afewerk Tekle and his beautiful art