Haile Selassie I (Emperor of Ethiopia)

Summary

Haile Selassie I was the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 with lineage tracing back to the Jewish emperor of Ethiopia Menelik I. Selassie is seen as a messiah to the Rastafarian faith.

• Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael popularly known as Haile Selassie I, was born on the 23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975, near Harar, Ethiopia.
• He was Ethiopia’s regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974.
• He served as the chairperson of the OAU from 25 May 1963 to 17 July 1964, and again from 5 November 1966 to 11 September 1967.
• Haile Selassie is believed to be a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, two ancient rulers from the tenth century B.C.E.
• Among the Rastafari movement, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the Bible, God incarnate.
• Haile Selassie was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian throughout his life.
• In 1935, Benito Mussolini’s troops invaded Ethiopia. Haile Selassie went into exile in 1936 and returned to power in 1941.
• Haile Selassie founded the University College of Addis Ababa in 1950.
• Haile Selassie sought to modernize Ethiopia through social, economic and educational reforms.
• He ruled until 1974, when famine, unemployment and political opposition forced him from office.

Haile Selassie’s quotes

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”

“We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community.”

“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.”

“Imagination, devotion, perseverance, together with divine grace, will assure your success.”

“Leadership does not mean domination. The world is always well supplied with people who wish to rule and dominate others. The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficent purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations.”

“Conflicts between nations will continue to arise. The real issue is whether they are to be resolved by force, or by resort to peaceful methods and procedures, administered by impartial institutions.”

“The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficent purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations.”

“Outside the kingdom of the Lord there is no nation which is greater than any other. God and history will remember your judgment.”

“We have finished the job. What shall we do with the tools?”

Some of his works

My Life and Ethiopia’s Progress, Vol. 1; My Life and Ethiopia’s Progress, Vol. 2; King of Kings of Ethiopia (My Life and Ethiopia Progress) etc.