Sebhat-Leab Gebre-Egziabher (; 5 May 1936 – 20 February 2012) was an

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

writer from

Tigray Region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

. He is famous for pioneering the naturalist writing style in Amharic. His writing style was not constrained by the traditional Ethiopian writing style nor orthodox syntax. Despite using simple words and seemingly light prose, Sebhat's concepts are highly sophisticated and philosophical.

Biography

Sebhat was born on 6 May 1936 near the historical town of

Adwa Adwa (; ; also spelled Adowa or Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian troops, thus being ...

Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

in a village called Erba Gered. He is the brother of the scientist Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher. Sebhat originally intended to be a librarian. He visited Washington in 1960 and stayed there a year. At that time he was intending to write in English. He decided however that

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 ...

is better suited for his subject matter. He later visited France and received an award from

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. Sebhat published works of fiction and non fiction in French and

. Some of his works have been translated into English. He also worked as a journalist and columnist for the ''Ethiopian Herald'', ''

Addis Zemen Addis Zemen (Amharic "New Era"; also known as Addis Abreham) is a town in northern-central Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, on the road connecting Gondar and Bahir Dar, Addis Zemen has a latitude and longitude of ...

'', ''Menen,'' and other magazines and newspapers.

Works

Amharic

*ሌቱም አይነጋልኝ ''Dawn Yet Not'' *ትኩሳት ''Tekusat'' (''Fever''), 1997 (romance) *ሰባተኛው መላክ ''Säbatägnaw Mälak'' (''The 7th Angel''), 1999 (romance) *እግረ፡ መንገድ ፩ እና ፪ ''Egrä Mängäd 1 enna 2'' (Along the way 1 and 2), 2003 *ማስታወሻ ''Mastawäsha'' (''Notes''), 2001 *አምስት ስድስት ሰባት እና ሌሎችም ታሪኮች (''Five, Six, Seven and Other Stories)'', 1988.

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 ...

: Bolé Matemia Bet. *የፍቅር ሻማዎች (''Love Candles'') *ቦርጨቅ ''Borchek'' *ስምንተኛው ጋጋታ ''Semntegnaw Gagata''(''The Eighth Din)'' *ዛዚ ''Zazi'' *እነሆ ጀግና ''Eneho Jegna''(''Behold The Hero)'' *የትረካ ጥበብ ''Yetireka Tibeb''(''The Art Of Narration)''

English

*''Seeds and other stories'', retold in English by Wendy Kindred. African Sun Publishing. Aventures, 2004 -

French

*''Les Nuits d'Addis-Abeba'', Paris, Actes Sud coll. Aventures, 2004 - , Translated by the author and Francis Falceto; Original title: ሌቱም፡ አይነጋልኝ, ''I will not see the end of the night'', 2004. *''"Letum Aynegalign''

Biography

Works

Amharic

English

French

References

Further reading