Tsegaye, Ethiopia’s most famous poet

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s most famous poet, Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin, who died in New York after a long illness, was laid to rest in Addis Ababa last week.

“Ethiopia today lost her greatest son,” said Maeruge Dezadeh, a university lecturer and former Ethiopian diplomat in Britain, who was among the mourners. The 69-year-old Ethiopian Poet Laureate was a strong voice for human rights in Ethiopia and was imprisoned during Mengistu Haile Mariam’s regime.He left Ethiopia for the US in 1998.Among his most famous poems is ‘Proud to be African’, the anthem of the African Union.Tsegaye won a variety of awards during his career including the Human Rights Watch Free Expression award in New York in 1982 and the Honorable Poets Laureate Golden Laurel Award given by the Congress of World Poets.Born in the small mountain town of Boda, Tsegaye wrote more than 30 plays, most in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, and translated many Western works into Amharic, including those of Shakespeare, Brecht and Molière.He was even more prolific as a poet, publishing countless poems on topics from war (his father had fought for his country during the Italian occupation, 1936 to 1941) to peace.Steeped in the mythology of his region, he viewed the history of Ethiopia — an ancient kingdom with a tradition of independence from colonial powers — as symbolic of a continent’s pride and potential.In a 1993 interview with The Ethiopian Review, he said: “You cannot build a future based on hatred because hatred is the enemy of hope.”Ayele Bekerie, the director of undergraduate programmes for African studies at Cornell University, called Tsegaye “a pioneering figure” who used “the medium of poetry to advance the idea of national unity among the diverse populations of Ethiopia”, a nation that Tsegaye saw as too often splintered by coups, uprisings and famine.”To him,” Mr.Bekerie said, “the stability and unity of Ethiopia lay in its respect for different cultures.”- Various SourcesThe 69-year-old Ethiopian Poet Laureate was a strong voice for human rights in Ethiopia and was imprisoned during Mengistu Haile Mariam’s regime.He left Ethiopia for the US in 1998.Among his most famous poems is ‘Proud to be African’, the anthem of the African Union.Tsegaye won a variety of awards during his career including the Human Rights Watch Free Expression award in New York in 1982 and the Honorable Poets Laureate Golden Laurel Award given by the Congress of World Poets.Born in the small mountain town of Boda, Tsegaye wrote more than 30 plays, most in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, and translated many Western works into Amharic, including those of Shakespeare, Brecht and Molière.He was even more prolific as a poet, publishing countless poems on topics from war (his father had fought for his country during the Italian occupation, 1936 to 1941) to peace.Steeped in the mythology of his region, he viewed the history of Ethiopia — an ancient kingdom with a tradition of independence from colonial powers — as symbolic of a continent’s pride and potential.In a 1993 interview with The Ethiopian Review, he said: “You cannot build a future based on hatred because hatred is the enemy of hope.”Ayele Bekerie, the director of undergraduate programmes for African studies at Cornell University, called Tsegaye “a pioneering figure” who used “the medium of poetry to advance the idea of national unity among the diverse populations of Ethiopia”, a nation that Tsegaye saw as too often splintered by coups, uprisings and famine.”To him,” Mr.Bekerie said, “the stability and unity of Ethiopia lay in its respect for different cultures.”- Various Sources