Life in Exile
On 12 September 1974, the Marxist Derg military junta deposed Emperor Haile Selassie and declared that Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen would be anointed "King" and a constitutional monarch upon his return from medical treatment in Geneva, Switzerland. The Prince did not recognize this proclamation and did not return to Ethiopia. When instead he announced to the Ethiopian Embassy in London that he would be moving to that city shortly, the Embassy asked the Derg for instructions as to whether it should receive him as King and head-of-state, or if it should receive him as Crown Prince upon his arrival in the United Kingdom. The Derg replied that he should be received as a simple citizen of Ethiopia and that no royal dignities were to be accorded to the Prince or his family. The revolutionaries soon abolished the monarchy in March 1975, and Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen settled permanently in London, where several other members of the Imperial family were already based. The other members of the Imperial family who were still in Ethiopia at the time of the revolution were imprisoned, including Asfaw Wossen's father the Emperor, his daughter by his first marriage, Princess Ijigayehu, his sister Princess Tenagnework and many of his nephews, nieces, relatives and in-laws. In 1975, first his father Emperor Haile Selassie and then in January 1977, his daughter Princess Ijigayehu died in detention. Members of the Imperial family remained imprisoned until 1988 (for the women) and 1989 (for the men).
In April 1989, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen was proclaimed "Emperor of Ethiopia" in exile, at his home in London by members of the exiled Ethiopian community. He took the throne name of Amha Selassie I. His wife began also using the title of "Empress". A year later, the Emperor and Empress in exile moved to McLean, Virginia, USA to be close to the large Ethiopian immigrant population in and around Washington, D.C.
In 1991, with the fall of the Derg, and the coming to power of the EPRDF in Ethiopia, Amha Selassie founded the Moa Anbessa Monarchist Movement to promote a monarchial restoration in Ethiopia and announced his intention to return to his country for a visit. However, following the disinterment of the remains of Emperor Haile Selassie, a dispute erupted between the Imperial family and the new government over the status of a funeral that was planned for the late Emperor. The government refused to give Haile Selassie a state funeral, and as a result, the funeral, and the return of Amha Selassie was indefinitely postponed.
Read more about this topic: Amha Selassie
Famous quotes containing the words life in, life and/or exile:
“The problem is simply this: no one can feel like CEO of his or her life in the presence of the people who toilet trained her and spanked him when he was naughty. We may have become Masters of the Universe, accustomed to giving life and taking it away, casually ordering people into battle or out of their jobs . . . and yet we may still dirty our diapers at the sound of our mommy’s whimper or our daddy’s growl.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
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“The exile is a singular, whereas refugees tend to be thought of in the mass. Armenian refugees, Jewish refugees, refugees from Franco Spain. But a political leader or artistic figure is an exile. Thomas Mann yesterday, Theodorakis today. Exile is the noble and dignified term, while a refugee is more hapless.... What is implied in these nuances of social standing is the respect we pay to choice. The exile appears to have made a decision, while the refugee is the very image of helplessness.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)