Abiye Abebe

This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by their given name, Abiye, and not as Abebe.

Lij Abiye Abebe (Amharic: አብይ አበበ; born 1917 – 23 November 1974) was an Ethiopian politician and son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Abiye Abebe
አብይ አበበ
Abiye in 1967
Minister of Defence
In office 28 February 1974 – 22 July 1974
Prime Minister	Endelkachew Makonnen
Preceded by	Merid Mengesha
Succeeded by	Aman Andom
President of the Senate
In office 15 July 1964 – 28 February 1974
Monarch	Haile Selassie I
Preceded by	Le'ul Ras Asrate Kassa
Succeeded by	Legislature abolished
Governor-General of Eritrea[1] Chief Administrator (1960–1962) Chief Executive (1959–1960)
In office 20 May 1959 – 12 February 1964
Monarch	Haile Selassie I
Preceded by	Bitwoded Asfaha Woldemikael as Chief Executive
Succeeded by	Le'ul Ras Asrate Kassa
Personal details
Born	1917[2] Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Empire
Died	23 November 1974(1974-11-23) (aged 56–57) Akaki Central Prison, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Spouse(s)	Princess Tsehai Haile-Selassie Woizero Amarech Nasibu
Parent	Liqa Mequas Abebe Atnaf Seggad (father)

Biography

Son of Liqa Mequas Abebe Atnaf Seggad, Abiye was born 1918 in Addis Ababa^[2] as a Lij.^{[citation needed]} He attended the Holeta Military Academy.^[3] In the 1940s and 1950s he was Minister of Defence, and later served as Minister of Justice and Minister of the Interior.^[4] He chaired the High National Security Commission during the Ethiopian Revolution until his arrest by the Derg on 16 July 1974.^[5] Lt. General Abiye was serving as Chief of the General Staff when he was arrested.

According to John Spencer, when Prime Minister Aklilu Habte-Wold sought to resign his post in 1973, he suggested to the Emperor that he be replaced by General Abiye. Other sources indicate that Aklilu Habte-Wold's rival Prince Asrate Kassa was the person who put General Abiye forward as a fellow aristocrat. However Abiye consented to becoming Prime Minister only if his nomination, and those of his cabinet, were approved by the Ethiopian parliament, a condition Emperor Haile Selassie found unacceptable. As a result, Haile Selassie decided to appoint Endelkachew Makonnen Prime Minister instead.^[6] Abiye was one of 60 former government officials executed the night of 22–23 November at Akaki Central Prison by the Derg.^[7]

General Abiye was married three times. At Addis Ababa, on 26 April 1942, he married Princess Tsehai of Ethiopia who died in childbirth a year later. After this marriage, Lt. General Abiye Abebe was accorded the dignities and protocol rank of the Emperor's son-in-law, even after he remarried. In 1946, married Woizero Amarech Nasibu, daughter of Nasibu Zeamanuel, and then in 1970 to Woizero Tsige Aynalem, his widow, with whom he had three children, Phebe, Berkinesh, and Abiye.^[8]

Career history

• Brigadier-General (24 April 1942)
• Governor-General of Wollega province (1942–1943)^[2]
• Minister for War 1949–1955; Acting (1943–1947)
• Minister of Justice (1958–1961)^[2]
• Minister of Interior (1961–1964)^[2]
• Ambassador to France (1955–1958)^[2]
• Viceroy of Eritrea (1959–1964)
• President of the Ethiopian Senate (1964–1974)^[2]
• Minister for Defence and Chief of Staff (28 February 1974 – 22 July 1974)

Honours

National

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Trinity^[8]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Menelik II^[8]
• Military Medal of Merit of the Order of St George^[8]
• Haile Selassie I Gold Medal^[8]
• Patriot Medal & three torches (1944)^[8]
• Refugee Medal (1944)^[8]
• Jubilee Medal (1955)^[8]
• Jubilee Medal (1966)^[8]

Foreign

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Kingdom of The Netherlands, 13 November 1953)^[9]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (Kingdom of Norway, January 1956)^[8]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Legion of Honour (French Republic)^[8]
• Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance (Kingdom of Jordan)^[8]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sahametrei (Kingdom of Cambodia, 4 January 1968)^[8]
• Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (United Kingdom, 1965)^[8]
• British Star (United Kingdom, 1939–1945)^[8]
• Africa Star (United Kingdom, 1940–1943)^[8]
• British War Medal (United Kingdom, 1939–1945)^[8]
• National Order of Merit (France)^[8]

References

1. In 1959 the legislatively-elected post of Chief Executive was replaced by the imperially-appointed office of Chief Administrator. On 15 November 1962 Eritrea became an ordinary province of Ethiopia, and the office was in turn replaced with that of Governor-General.
2. Shinn, David; Ofcansky, Thomas (2013). Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7457-2.
3. Shinn, David H. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia (2 ed.). Scarecrow Press. pp. 3–. ISBN 9780810865662.
4. Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia, second edition (London: James Currey, 2003), p. 205
5. Andargachew Tiruneh, The Ethiopian revolution, 1974-1987 (Cambridge: University Press, 1993), p. 68
6. Spencer, Ethiopia at Bay: A personal account of the Haile Selassie years (Algonac: Reference Publications, 1984), p. 337
7. Marina and David Ottaway, Ethiopia: Empire in Revolution (New York: Africana, 1978), p. 61
8. Chu, Jane (July 2, 2022). "What We Carry: The Medals of Abiye Abebe". Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
9. Nationaal Archief, inventory 2.02.32, dossier 373, registry number 854