Amha Selassie (Ge'ez: አምሃ ሥላሴ, romanized: Āmiha Śəllase, lit. 'Salute of the Trinity'; born Asfaw Wossen Tafari; 27 July 1916 – 17 January 1997) was Emperor-in-exile of Ethiopia. As son of Haile Selassie, he was Crown Prince and was proclaimed monarch three times. He was first proclaimed Emperor during an unsuccessful coup attempt against his father in December 1960, during which he alleged that he was detained and compelled to accept the title. After his father was deposed in a later coup, he was proclaimed King (not Emperor) in absentia by the Derg on 12 September 1974 in an act which he never accepted as legitimate and that ended in the abolition of the Ethiopian monarchy on 21 March 1975. He was again proclaimed Emperor in exile on 8 April 1989. This time he sanctioned the proclamation and accepted its legitimacy. After his accession, his full reign name was His Imperial Majesty Emperor Amha Selassie I, Elect of God, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah and King of Kings of Ethiopia.
Amha Selassie in the context of 1974 Ethiopian coup d'état
On 12 September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a military junta that consequently ruled Ethiopia as the Derg until 28 May 1991.
In February 1974, the Ethiopian Revolution was accompanied by mutinies of units of the Imperial Army, which were ignited over resentment of low payment. The Derg established the Coordinating Council of the Armed Forces in June 1974, and grew rapidly to topple the ministers of Haile Selassie under Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen. Upon deposing the emperor, many of his personages and Imperial family members fled to London like Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen. On 27 March 1975, the Derg officially abolished the monarchy and the Ethiopian Empire as a whole, and began implementing a Marxist-Leninist system, along with nationalizing all properties. Haile Selassie died on 27 August, with different sources attributing his death to strangulation by the order of the military government or natural causes during a prostate operation.
View the full Wikipedia page for 1974 Ethiopian coup d'étatAmha Selassie in the context of List of Presidents of Ethiopia
This is a list of presidents of Ethiopia, and also a list of heads of state after the fall of the Ethiopian Empire in 1974.
Until the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974, the heads of state of Ethiopia were either emperors or regents. From the coup d'état of the Derg leading to the fall of the empire in September 1974 until March 1975, the Derg considered the crown prince Asfaw Wossen (later regnal name Amha Selassie) as the king (not emperor) and the nominal head of state – which the crown prince refused to accept. During this time, the chairmen of the Derg, the leaders of the Derg, were to be considered as acting heads of state. On 21 March 1975, the Derg military junta abolished the monarchy and fully took over. Until the establishment of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1987, still dominated by Derg figures, chairmen of the Derg have to be considered heads of state – but not presidents. After the fall of the Derg and the establishment of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia in 1991, the first immediate president (Meles Zenawi) has to be considered an Interim President.
View the full Wikipedia page for List of Presidents of Ethiopia