Menen Asfaw

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Coronation portrait of Menen II.
Menen in Israel in 1959

Itege Menen Asfaw (born March 25, 1889 in Egua , Wollo ; died February 15, 1962 in Addis Ababa ) was Haile Selassie's second wife and, as Menen II, Empress of Ethiopia.

Life

Youth and marriages

Menen came from an Oromo noble family. Her grandfather was the influential Negus Mikael von Wollo , whose son, the never crowned Emperor Iyasu V , was her uncle. His brother was Jantirar Asfaw.

Menen first married Dejazmach Ali of Cherecha, from whom she was divorced. Her second husband became the Dejazmach Amede Ali Aba-Deyas, who died unexpectedly. Both nobles came from Wollo, and Menen gave birth to two children. Her grandfather arranged a third marriage to Ras Lul Seged. It is uncertain whether this third marriage took place and she divorced again, or whether it remained an engagement.

At the request of Iyasus and Mikael, Menen married Ras Täfäri Makonnen in July 1911 at the age of 22, who became Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 as Haile Selassie . Official historiography makes no mention of previous marriages. In contrast to the wedding picture, which showed her in oriental splendor, later she usually wore simpler, partly European clothes.

She had six children with Haile Selassie:

  • Princess Tenagne Worq (born January 30, 1913 - April 6, 2003)
  • Prince Asfa Wossen (* July 27, 1916 - January 17, 1997)
  • Princess Zannaba Worq (* July 25, 1918 - March 25, 1933)
  • Princess Tsahai Worq (born October 13, 1919 - † August 17, 1942)
  • Prince Makonnen (October 16, 1923 - May 13, 1957)
  • Prince Sahle Selassie (February 27, 1931 - April 23, 1962)

empress

As empress, Menen took on numerous representative tasks and strengthened and embodied a modern image of women in traditional Ethiopia. In 1931 she founded the first college for girls and attended schools, mothers' homes and children's homes. The Abyssinian War forced the imperial couple into exile until they were able to return after the reconquest of Italian East Africa in 1941. Once again she donated aid organizations for war widows and homes for war-disabled children.

In 1953 Selassie founded the order of good husbands. At Menen's request, he himself became the first bearer of the Grand Cross of this order.

Web links

Commons : Menen Asfaw  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Antonius Lux (ed.): Great women of world history. A thousand biographies in words and pictures . Sebastian Lux Verlag , Munich 1963, p. 330
personal data
SURNAME Asfaw, Menen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Isege Menen Asfaw (maiden name); Menen II.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ethiopian Empress
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Egua , Wollo
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1962
Place of death Addis Ababa