Germame Neway (; 14 August 1924 – 24 December 1960) was an Ethiopian politician known for his role in

1960 Ethiopian coup d'état attempt Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 196 for this ye ...

. He was leader of the Wolayita province, and the Somali province. Germame was a member of the aristocracy of

Shewa Shewa (; ; Somali: Shawa; , ), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa, is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at it ...

. He died by suicide on 24 December 1960.

Background

Of ethnic

Amhara Amhara may refer to: * Amhara people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia * Amharic, a language spoken by the Amhara people * Bete Amhara, a lordship and later province of medieval Ethiopia * Amhara Province, a historical region of Ethiopia * Amhara Region ...

heritage. Germame was born in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

in 1924. After his primary and secondary education in the prestigious Teferi Mekonnen School and Haile Sellassie I School in

, he went to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for further studies. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

at Wisconsin University and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in social science at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1954. Germame was a progressive and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

governor who was frustrated in his attempts to improve the standard of living of the subjects in the districts he was assigned to govern, and grew to resent the absolutist and

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

central government under

Emperor Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or '' Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (') under Empress Zewditu between 1916 and 1930. Wide ...

.Keller, ''Revolutionary Ethiopia'' (Bloomington: Indiana University, 1988), pp. 133f In 1958, Germame was appointed as the governor of Wolaita province, but he stayed only for one year here, and in 1959 transformed to govern the

Ogaden region Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; , ) is one of the historical names used for the modern Somali Region. It is also natively referred to as Soomaali Galbeed (). The region forms the eastern portion of Ethiopia and borders Somalia ...

. Also in this region, Germame led only for one year. Though he led a reform in these two places, the people opposed his administration and that put him into short term of leadership. When Germame had attempted to encourage the

Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...

inhabitants of Wellamu to build roads,

bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...

, and schools, he was opposed by the local

landlords A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord applies ...

who agitated for his replacement. Germame was then reassigned to

Jijiga Jijiga (, , ''Jijiga'') is the capital city of Somali Region, Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Region in 1995 after it was moved from Gode. Located in the Fafan Zone with 75 km (37 mi) west of the border with Som ...

, where he "was immediately confronted with the

abject poverty Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, ...

and underdevelopment of the region and with obvious signs of official neglect." The obstructions Germame encountered even in remote posts within the empire convinced him of the need to overthrow Selassie's regime.

Coup

Gemame became grieved for the action that taken upon him by

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

. Following this he also participated in the

.Paul B. Henze, ''Layers of Time'' (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 254; Keller, ''Revolutionary Ethiopia'', p. 132 Germame committed suicide on 24 December 1960 when he and his brother

Mengistu Neway Mengistu Neway (1919 – 30 March 1961) was an Ethiopian military officer and commander of the Kebur Zabagna, Imperial Guard during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie. He is noted for being one of the early dissidents of the Emperor's regime an ...

, were surrounded by the army near

Mojo, Ethiopia Mojo (, ) is a town in central Ethiopia, named after the nearby Modjo River. Located in the East Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 1788 and 1825 meters above sea level. It is the adm ...

References

1924 births 1960 suicides 1960 deaths Ethiopian activists Suicides by firearm in Ethiopia Ethiopian military personnel {{Ethiopia-politician-stub