Imru Haile Selassie
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Leul Ras Imru Haile Selassie, CBE (
Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
: ዕምሩ ኀይለ ሥላሴ; 23 November 1892 – 15 August 1980) was an Ethiopian noble, soldier, and diplomat. He served as acting Prime Minister for three days in 1960 during a coup d'état and assassination of Prime Minister Abebe Aregai. Imru was the cousin of Emperor
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 ...
.


Biography

Born in Shewa Province, Imru was the childhood friend of his first cousin once removed
Haile Selassie I 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 ...
(Imru's mother, Mazlekia Ayala Worq, was Haile Selassie's first cousin); both were tutored together under Abba Samuel Wolde Kahin, and were raised by Imru's father Haile Selassie Abayne, whom Harold G. Marcus describes as the Emperor's "real father", asserting that "Makonnen's son recalled the surrogate with affection, whereas he invariably referred to his father with formality and deference." Both Imru and his father accompanied the future ruler to his first governorship in Sidamo. In 1916/17 Imru, by then a '' Dejazmach'', was appointed ''Shum'' (Governor) of
Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...
province by his cousin. In 1928, Imru was appointed ''Shum'' of Wollo province when Gugsa Welle failed to end a smoldering rebellion there. In 1932, Imru was promoted to Ras and made ruler of Gojjam province. Imru replaced Ras Hailu Tekle Haymanot, who had been convicted of
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
for allegedly helping the deposed Lij Iyasu escape, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Upon arriving in Gojjam, Imru was immediately faced with a revolt by Fitawrari Admassu, a natural son of the imprisoned Ras, who on 30 September briefly held Debre Marqos; not long afterwards Admassu ended his revolt, sending messengers to the Emperor to ask for pardon. Nevertheless, despite numerous reforms and efforts to modernise the province, which enriched both the producers and traders, Imru found few friends in Gojjam and "was invariably viewed as an outsider, the emperor's agent, and, unable to rule by consensus, he governed by force." From October 1935, Imru led his provincial army and commanded the Army of the Left in the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression waged by Italy against Ethiopia, which lasted from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Ita ...
. His early offensive deep into the Italian rear threatened the Italian advance. Ultimately Imru was stopped and his army was destroyed by the use of poison gas dropped from the air. In May 1936, Haile Selassie appointed his cousin as
Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...
in his absence, departing Ethiopia with his family to present the case of Ethiopia to the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
at
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. Ras Imru fell back to Gore in southern Ethiopia to reorganise and continue to resist the Italians. For this to have worked, he needed the revenue of the gold mines of
Asosa Asosa or Assosa is the capital of Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Ethiopia. Located in the Asosa Zone, this town has a latitude and longitude of , with an elevation of 1,570 meters. History According to the Dutch explorer Juan Maria Schuver, who vi ...
, but the loyal Sheikh Hojali was driven out in July 1936 by rebellious Welega Oromo, who also made Ras Imru's position in Gore untenable, and he retreated to the southeast. The Italians followed him, and pinned him down on the north bank of the Gojeb River, where he surrendered 19 December 1936. He was flown to Italy and imprisoned on the Island of
Ponza Ponza (Italian: ''isola di Ponza'' ) is the largest island of the Italy, Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina ...
until freed after the formal surrender of Italy in September 1943. After the war Ras Imru was appointed a Crown Councilor and served as Ambassador to
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, the United States, and the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Always a man of modernist and reformist views, as well as deeply religious Ras Imru increasingly began to lean towards a left of centre political stance that would probably have had him classified as a socialist in the western European sense. Both he and his son Mikael Imru became advocates for
land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...
, and he went as far as distributing his own extensive estates to his tenant farmers. Due to these political views, Ras Imru was nicknamed "the Red Ras" by many contemporaries. Regardless of his leftist sympathies, Ras Imru remained a confidant of the Emperor and a monarchist. However, when the
Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
deposed Emperor Haile Selassie in September 1974, they asked Ras Imru to accompany them to the Emperor's palace to witness the act. Eyewitness accounts relate that the Ras was visibly distressed as the members of the Derg announced to the Emperor that he was deposed and that they required him to accompany them to his place of detention. The Emperor and Ras Imru had a whispered conversation after which the Emperor agreed to go peacefully. The Ras then asked to be allowed to accompany the Emperor to wherever the soldiers were taking him, and became distraught when permission was refused. The members then assured the Prince that he could come to see the Emperor later in the day. It is believed that the Derg did not want to subject Ras Imru to the insults and humiliation that were directed at the Emperor by Derg sympathisers as he was driven away from the palace. After his death in August 1980, Ras Imru became the only member of the Imperial dynasty to be given a state funeral by the
Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
. Television and radio announcements of his death accorded him his full titles of Prince, Ras, and the dignity of "His Highness" even though the Derg had abolished all Imperial titles in 1974. He was publicly and officially eulogised as a former
prince regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...
, a distinguished diplomat, an early progressive, and a leader of the resistance against the Italian occupation. No mention was made of his blood ties to the Imperial family or his lifelong close association with the late Emperor.


Honours

* Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (United Kingdom, 8 July 1924). * Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (Kingdom of Norway, 10 January 1966). * Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...
(Kingdom of The Netherlands, 4 February 1969Nationaal Archief, inventory 2.02.32, dossier 373, registry number 1228


See also

* Black Lions * Mikael Imru


Notes


External links


Photo of Ras Imru Haile Selassie 1936
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imru Haile Selassie 1892 births 1980 deaths Ambassadors of Ethiopia to the United States Ambassadors of Ethiopia to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Ethiopia to India Military personnel of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Ethiopian generals Ethiopian Royal Family Ethiopian princes Burials at Holy Trinity Cathedral (Addis Ababa) Prisoners of war held by Italy Commanders of the Order of the British Empire