Medferiashwork Abebe
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Medferiashwork Abebe | |
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House of Solomon (by marriage) | |
Father | Dejazmatch and Mayor-General Abebe Damtew |
Mother | Woizero Wosenyelesh Mangasha |
Religion | Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo |
Medferiashwork Abebe (Amharic: መድፈሪያሽወርቅ አበበ; 1922 – 13 March 2009),[1] baptismal name Amete Maryam[citation needed], was the titular empress consort of Amha Selassie, emperor-in-exile of Ethiopia. Her full title used by monarchists was "Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Medferiashwork", but she was officially regarded in post-Derg Ethiopia as "Her Imperial Highness Princess Medferiashwork Abebe".[2]
Biography
Her father was
Medferiashwork Abebe Damtew married Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen Haile Selassie in 1945, and they had three daughters (
Princess Medferiashwork was said to have played a key role in organizing the opposition to the attempted
In 1973, when her husband had a massive stroke, she accompanied him to
In 1989, when Prince Asfaw Wossen assumed the title "Emperor-in-exile" with the name "Amha Selassie I", he bestowed the title of Empress upon Medferiashwork. Amha Selassie and Medferiashwork moved to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., in 1990 to be near the large Ethiopian community there. Accorded courtesies and homage of an Empress-consort, Medferiashwork lived with her husband in Virginia until his death in February, 1997. She and her children accompanied his body back to Ethiopia and held Ethiopia's first royal funeral since the revolution. After her husband's death, she lived much more quietly, eventually settling in Addis Ababa. She attended the re-burial of her father-in-law Haile Selassie in November 2000, and the funeral of her sister-in-law and aunt by marriage, Princess Tenagnework in 2005. Medferiashwork died on March 13, 2009, after a long illness. In a departure from recent practice and in compliance with her wishes, Empress Medferiashwork was not entombed with other members of the Imperial family in the crypt of Holy Trinity Cathedral. Instead she was buried in the church yard of the cathedral alongside her mother in the section reserved for exiles of the Italian occupation. The Empress had lived in exile with her parents and sister in Jerusalem during the occupation of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941.
Patronages
- Patroness of the Monastery of St. Mary at Gishen.[citation needed]
Honours
National honours
- Grand Collar and Chain of the Order of Solomon.
- Gran Cordon of the Order of the Star of Solomon.
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Queen of Sheba (8 April 1945).
- Jubilee Medal (1955).
- Jubilee Medal (1966).
Foreign honours
- Member of the Order of the Seraphim (Kingdom of Sweden, 19 December 1959).
- Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St Olav(Kingdom of Norway, January 1956).
- Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Beneficence(Kingdom of Greece, April 1959).
Ancestry
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References
- ^ Kifle, Elias (March 18, 2009). "Princess Medferiashwork passed away". Ethiopian Review. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "Burials at Holy Trinity Cathedral (Addis Ababa): Amha Selassie, Desta Damtew, Haile Selassie I, Imru Haile Selassie, Medferiashwork Abebe, Menen Asfaw". www.libreriauniversitaria.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-01-27.
- ^ "Emperor Haile Selassie I". nobility.org. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
- ISBN 9781230622774.