Category: Profile
Thirty years ago on July 29, the poet and playwright, Mengistu Lemma, who Richard Pankhurst considered the Bernard Shaw of Ethiopia, died at the age of 65. Mengistu made a remarkable impact on the development of Ethiopian literature with his…
Mahmoud Ahmed is one of Ethiopia’s greatest performers, whose career started in the country’s ‘Golden Age’ in the ’60s and ’70s when a thriving indigenous jazz and funk scene swept the nation. Since his first trip abroad in 1994, he…
Gérard Prunier is a writer and researcher on socio-political issues, specialising in the Horn of Africa on which he has published numerous articles and books. Born in Paris and studied both in France and in the US, Prunier received a…
Ethiopia is at a crossroads as the nation swears in a new Prime Minister in a move to reclaim stability after three years of political crisis. There is realization among political leaders, opposition members and the society at large only…
In the 1980s, as part of its revolutionary commitment to international cooperation, Cuba provided scholarships to Ethiopians and other African nationals. On La Isla de la Juventud, the Isle of Youth, were four specially designed schools where thousands of Ethiopian…
Mengistu Lemma (1928-1988) was a leading Ethiopian playwright, novelist, poet, and scholar, who in the words of the late Prof. Richard Pankhurst may be considered the Molière, Bernard Shaw, or Gogol of Ethiopia. In this extract from interviews conducted on…
Dr. Mulualem Gessesse is one of the few doctors in Ethiopia who specialized in treating premature babies and recognized for her dedication and passion for changing the new-born care system in the country. While as an adolescent, Mulualem happened to…
It’s been a year since the death of Fidel Castro, the iconic leader of the Cuban Revolution, who left a complicated legacy—some heralding him as a liberating hero and others decrying him as a ruthless dictator. For Ethiopians, Castro’s legacy…
The renowned Ethiopian poet, screenwriter, journalist and essayist, Solomon Deressa, who settled in the United States in the early 1980s, died on Thursday in Minnesota, his family announced. He was 80.
Sophia Yilma Deressa, 75, is a pioneering Ethiopian journalist and a mentor and role model for many. She broke ground at the Ethiopian Herald in 1961 when she was hired as a reporter at the age of 19, becoming the…