Amsalu Aklilu (2 September 1929 – 19 December 2013) was a distinguished lexicographer of Amharic and a language professor at Addis Ababa University, a major figure in Ethiopian studies. He was born in

Dessie Dessiè City which is politically oppressed by the past Ethiopian government systems due to the fact that most of the population follow Islamic religion. Dessie ( am, ደሴ, Däse; also spelled Dese or Dessye) is a town in north-central Ethiopia ...

, Wällo; attended a local church school and later attended and graduated from Holy Trinity Secondary School, in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

. He obtained his bachelor's degree from

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

and his doctorate from the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. He produced a number of scholarly books, articles and reviews (written in Amharic, German and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

), but he will always be remembered for the ''English-Amharic Dictionary'', which he produced with G. P. Mosback in 1981 and was positively reviewed, followed by his 1986 ''Amharic-English'', also reviewed positively. He also produced an Amharic-Arabic dictionary but did not live to finish the publication of his Amharic-German dictionary. In addition to teaching in the Institute of Language Studies at Addis Ababa University, he served in a number of administrative roles, including Dean of the Institute of Language Studies, department chair for the Department of Ethiopian Languages and Literature and a member of the editorial board of the ''Journal of Ethiopian Studies''. "In 1997, Amsalu moved to Hamburg, Germany where he became lecturer of Amharic and Ge'ez for the department of African and Ethiopian Studies. There his duties included teaching Amharic and Ge'ez to an influx of foreign students and introducing his county’s history and culture.... He served there till 2002."''Addis Journal.'' 2013.

References

1929 births 2013 deaths Ethiopianists University of Tübingen alumni Addis Ababa University faculty Ethiopian scholars Linguists from Ethiopia University of Hamburg faculty Cairo University alumni {{Africanist-stub