Abbreviation | Crown Council |
---|---|
Founded at | Ethiopian Empire |
Type | Community organization Cultural center |
Legal status | Constitutional Body Former Government-in-exile of Ethiopia and Eritrea |
Location | |
Region | Ethiopia - Ethiopian Community and Diaspora Eritrea - Eritrean Community and Diaspora |
Zera Yacob Amha Selassie | |
President | Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie |
Website | Official website |
The Crown Council of Ethiopia is a community organization and cultural center with the mission of preserving the culture(s) of the former Ethiopian Empire, as well as promoting development and humanitarian efforts. Today, the Crown Council has abandoned its former mission of being a Government-in-exile, redefining its role as a humanitarian and cultural preservation organization representing Ethiopians, Eritreans, and their diaspora. It is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area in the United States, where a large concentration of Ethiopian Americans and Eritrean Americans are located.
It originated as a constitutional body within the Ethiopian Empire, which were appointed by and advised the reigning Emperor of Ethiopia (Ge'ez: ንጉሠ ነገሥት, Nəgusä Nägäst); on occasion, its members acted on behalf of the Crown. After the deposition of the monarchy, the Crown Council of Ethiopia acted as the Government-in-exile of the Ethiopian Empire once claiming to be the legitimate government of Ethiopia and Eritrea. On 28 July 2004, the Crown Council abandoned its Government-in-exile status, relinquishing its claim of legitimate governance to the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The Communist Derg deposed the last Emperor, Haile Selassie I on 12 September 1974, and dissolved the council. Most members of the council were imprisoned and executed, including its president, Prince Asrate Medhin Kassa. The Derg announced that the monarchy had been abolished early in the following year. However, in 1993, a new Crown Council — which included several descendants of the late Haile Selassie I — asserted that the title of Emperor of Ethiopia was still in existence, and the Crown Council would act in its interests. Its justification was that the abolition of the monarchy by the Derg was extra-constitutional and carried out illegally.
The Federal Constitution of 1995 confirmed the status of the country as a republic, but Ethiopian royalists continue to operate the Crown Council. The Ethiopian government has however continued to accord members of the Imperial family their princely titles as a matter of courtesy. On 16 March 2005, Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie was reaffirmed by his second cousin Prince Zera Yacob as the President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia. Prince Zera Yacob is considered to be the Crown Prince of Ethiopia. [1] On July 28, 2004, the Crown Council redefined its role by redirecting its mission from the political realm to a mission of cultural preservation, development and humanitarian efforts in Ethiopia.
Portrait | President (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Emperor | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Prince Kassa Haile Darge (1881–1956) | 13 July 1941 | 16 November 1956 | Haile Selassie I | |
Vacant 1956–1971 [2] | ||||
Prince Asrate Kassa (1922–1974) | July 1971 | 12 September 1974 | ||
Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie (1960–) | 15 July 1993 | Prince Amha Selassie Zera Yacob Amha Selassie | ||
Haile Selassie I was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (Enderase) for Empress Zewditu from 1916 until 1930. Haile Selassie is widely considered a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history, and the key figure of Rastafari, a religious movement in Jamaica that emerged shortly after he became emperor in the 1930s. Before he rose to power he defeated Ras Gugsa Wole Bitul of Begemidr at the Battle of Anchem in 1928. He was a member of the Solomonic dynasty, which claims to trace lineage to Emperor Menelik I, believed to be the son of King Solomon and Makeda, the Queen of Sheba.
The emperor of Ethiopia, also known as the Atse, was the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country. A National Geographic article from 1965 called imperial Ethiopia "nominally a constitutional monarchy; in fact [it was] a benevolent autocracy".
Aman Mikael Andom was an Ethiopian general of Eritrean origin, and the first post-imperial acting head of state of Ethiopia. Aman was also the first Chairman of the Derg. He was appointed to this position following the coup d'état that ousted Emperor Haile Selassie on 12 September 1974, and served until his death in a shootout with his former supporters.
The Derg, officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the Marxist-Leninist military dictatorship that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership or junta formally "civilianized" the administration but stayed in power until 1991.
Amha Selassie 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 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.
Princess Tenagnework Haile Selassie, GBE was the eldest child of Emperor Haile Selassie and Empress Menen Asfaw.
Zera Yacob Amha Selassie is the grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie and son of Amha Selassie of the Ethiopian Empire. He has been head of the Imperial House of Ethiopia since 17 February 1997 as recognized by the Crown Council of Ethiopia.
The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire from the thirteenth to twentieth centuries. The dynasty was founded by Yekuno Amlak, who overthrew the Zagwe dynasty in 1270. His successors claimed he was descended from the legendary king Menelik I, the supposed son of the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, in order to legitimize the dynasty's assumption of power. Although this claimed ancestry gave the dynasty its name, there is no credible evidence that the dynasty was descended from Solomon or the Davidic line. The Solomonic dynasty remained in power until 1974, when its last emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown by a coup d'état.
Ermias Sahle Selassie is the only son of Prince Sahle Selassie of Ethiopia and Princess Mahisente Habte Mariam. He is the grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, and furthermore of Dejazmach Habte Mariam Gebre-Igziabiher, also known as Kumsa Moroda who was the third and last Moti, or ruler, of the Welega kingdom also referred as the Leqa Neqamte state. Currently the prince is ninth in the line of succession to the vacant imperial throne.
Princess Sara Gizaw, Duchess of Harar was the widow of Prince Makonnen, Duke (Mesfin) of Harar and second son of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.
Medferiashwork Abebe, baptismal name Amete Maryam, 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".
The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991.
The Ethiopian Empire, also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or simply known as Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that historically encompasses the geographical area of present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak approximately in 1270 until the 1974 coup d'etat by the Derg, which dethroned Emperor Haile Selassie. By 1896, the empire incorporated other regions such as Hararghe, Gurage and Wolayita, and saw its largest expansion with the federation of Eritrea in 1952. Throughout much of its existence, it was surrounded by hostile forces in the African Horn; however, it managed to develop and preserve a kingdom based on its ancient form of Christianity.
Prince (Abeto Lij)Girma Yohannes Iyasu is the Iyasuist claimant to the throne of Ethiopian Empire. He is also known by the name Girma Amente Ghebresillasie.
Le'ul RasMengesha Seyoum is a member of the imperial family of the Ethiopian Empire. In 1974, the monarchy was abolished by the Derg, a communist military junta.
Emperor Haile Selassie proclaimed a revised constitution in November 1955 of the Ethiopian Empire. The new constitution was intended to improve Ethiopia's international image. While it consolidated the Emperor's absolutist powers it introduced concepts such as the separation of powers and expanded the role of the Ethiopian parliament. It was abrogated in 1974 with the Ethiopian revolution of that year which resulted in the abolition of the monarchy by the Derg.
The Order of the Holy Trinity is an Ethiopian house order, established by Haile Selassie I on 2 November 1930, to celebrate his coronation. It currently ranks as the fourth highest award in the Ethiopian order of precedence.
This list details about chronological aspect of the Derg, the military junta that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987 by decade.
On 12 September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, a Soviet-backed military junta that consequently ruled Ethiopia as the Derg until 28 May 1991.