23 July 1892 - 27 August 1975

Date of Coronation - 2 November 1930

“This world was not created piecemeal. Africa was born no later and no earlier than any other geographical area on this globe. Africans, no more and no less than other men, possess all human attributes, talents and deficiencies, virtues, and faults.”

Early Life

Haile Selassie was born in Ejersa Goro, a region in Ethiopia's Harar province, on July 23, 1892. His mother, Woizero Yeshimebet Ali Abba Jifar, and father, Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael, gave him the name Lif Tafari Makonnen at birth (he would change it to Haile Selassie in 1930). Selassie traced his ancestry all the way back to Menelik I, who is believed to be the son of King Solomon and Queen Sheba.

Selassie's father died in 1906, and his uncle Menelik II (Emperor from 1889 to 1913) mentored him. Selassie was appointed governor of Gara Muleta in the province of Harar at the age of 14 due to his memory, diligence, and mastery of detail. In 1913, he was widely believed to be Menelik II's successor. However, following Menelik II's death, Menelik II's grandson, Lij Yasu, assumed the position. Yasu's reign was brief as his religion, Islam would eventually bring him down in a Christian-majority country. Selassie was named regent and heir to the throne in 1917 after Menelik II's daughter Zewditu contested the throne and became Empress.

Journey to Emperor

Lij Yasu, Menelik II's grandson, became the uncrowned emperor in 1913, but he was an unpopular figure among the majority Christian population from the start, owing to his ties to Islam and his unreliability. Selassie led the Christian uprising that deposed Yasu in 1916. In 1917, Zewditu was elevated to the position of the empress, and Selassie was appointed regent and heir apparent.

Selassie, unlike Zewditu, was interested in the country's politics and was committed to transforming Ethiopia into a modern country. He was progressive and became the focal point of the modernist younger generation's aspirations. Selassie was instrumental in Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations in 1923, and the following year he became the first Ethiopian ruler to travel abroad, visiting Rome, Paris, London, and Jerusalem. He seized control of the army in 1926 and declared himself King in 1928.

After the death of Empress Zewditu in 1930, Selassie assumed the position of Emperor and the title of King of Kings, as well as changing his name to Haile Selassie (Might of the Trinity).

Emperor

Selassie gave Ethiopia its first written constitution shortly after his coronation, which centralized his power by restricting the powers of parliament, effectively making him the Ethiopian government. He established provincial schools, strengthened police forces, prohibited feudal taxation, and sought to strengthen the government's authority while also assisting his people. Selassie's reign as Emperor was briefly interrupted in 1935, when Italian forces led by Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, utilizing poison gas and aerial warfare. Mussolini's troops used these tactics to seize the capital, Addis Ababa, in May 1936; as a result, Ethiopia lost its national independence, and Selassie was forcibly exiled. In his absence, the Ethiopians continued to fight through guerrilla warfare, and Selassie appealed to the League of Nations for assistance in defeating the Italians while in exile.

He spent four years in exile in Britain and returned to Ethiopia only in 1941 after British forces routed the Italians and forced them to withdraw from Ethiopia and Africa as a whole. Selassie returned to find his administration in ruins. He would devote himself to restoring it and strengthening Ethiopia's defenses. Selassie was widely regarded as a reformer, but he ruled with an iron fist and was paranoid about those around him to the point where he replaced those in positions of authority who opposed the Italians with those who collaborated with them, believing he could easily control them. In 1963, Selassie’s deeply held principles of international cooperation and collective responsibility underline his founding of the Organisation of African Unity, a unification of 32 African states, most of whom had just announced their independence from colonial rule.

Selassie's deeply held principles of international cooperation and collective responsibility served as the impetus for his 1963 founding of the Organization of African Unity, a federation of 32 African states, the majority of which had only recently declared their independence from colonial rule.

Rastafari

Selassie is regarded by some members of the Rastafari movement as god incarnate. The Rastafari movement began in Jamaica in the 1930s under the influence of Leonard Howell, a follower of Marcus Garvey's African Redemption Movement. The Rastafari believe he is the Messiah, as described in the Book of Revelation in the Bible's New Testament. Selassie arrived in Jamaica on 21 April 1966, and tens of thousands of Rastafari flocked to the airport to greet him.

Selassie gave an interview to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in which he appeared to deny his divinity and stated,

“I have heard of that idea. I also met certain Rastafarians. I told them clearly that I am a man, that I am mortal, and that I will be replaced by the oncoming generation, and that they should never make a mistake in assuming or pretending that a human being is emanated from a deity”

Final Years

By the 1970s, Ethiopia's situation had deteriorated due to rising unemployment, the government's inability to address the country's problems, famine, and political stagnation. Selassie's leadership abilities were questioned, and he lost control of the army, prompting a coup that removed him from power in 1974. He was later assassinated in 1975. Although it was initially believed he died of natural causes, evidence later revealed that he had been strangled.

References

BBC - Religions - Rastafari: Haile Selassie and Africa (2021). Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/rastafari/beliefs/haileselassie.shtml (Accessed: 17 January 2021).

century, 2. (2021) Timeline: The life of Haile Selassie, historyrevealed.com. Available at: https://www.historyrevealed.com/eras/20th-century/timeline-the-life-of-haile- selassie/ (Accessed: 17 January 2021).

Haile Selassie I | Biography, Rastafarian, Wife, Death, & Facts (2021). Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Haile-Selassie-I (Accessed: 17 January 2021).

Haile Selassie I | South African History Online (2021). Available at: https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/haile-selassie-i (Accessed: 17 January 2021).

Haile Selassie I (2021). Available at: https://www.biography.com/political-figure/haile- selassie-i (Accessed: 17 January 2021).

Haile Selassie - King, God or Redeemer? - Black History Month 2020 (2008). Available at: https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/bhm-heroes/haile- selassie-king-god-or-redeemer/ (Accessed: 17 January 2021).

Haile Selassie Quotes - BrainyQuote (2021). Available at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/haile-selassie-quotes (Accessed: 17 January 2021).

The Last Emperor – The Fall of Haile Selassie (2015). Available at: https://adst.org/2015/10/the-last-emperor-the-fall-of-haile-selassie/ (Accessed: 17 January 2021).

Spencer, William David (1998). Dread Jesus. SPCK Publishing. p. 44.