Category: Haile Selassie I – Testimonies

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

President of the Foreign Press Association in U.S. – 1963

Press Conference at the U.N. Headquarters
New York, 4th of October 1963

President of the Foreign Press Association in U.S. :

“With deference, we are happy to pay tribute to Your Imperial Majesty, and in so doing, on behalf of many of us, I should like to express our emotion at seeing You in the United Nations. For men of my generation, particularly, brought up in our youth in the cult of freedom and dignity, you already, twenty-eight years ago, were an authentic hero of legends, namely, a man who dedicated his courage and faith to the defence of human rights, be they of His country of anywhere else in the world.

The destiny of Your Imperial Majesty was and still is a great one, and Your presence today in this great home, a distant heir of the League of Nations that was so tragically unjust to You, is one of the very few symbols of poetic justice. But You have seen the immense emancipation of Africa, and it was You who were the first and the greatest inspiration of it. It is, therefore, only fair and just that the forward of African independence be organized and decided upon in Your capital.

We, Sir, are extremely honoured at the visit of Your Imperial Majesty, and we sincerely hope the best for You, Your person and Your country, Sir.”

EMPEROR: “I wish to thank you for your kind words and I trust that all you have said will be found in history. You have repeated it, and I thank you for so doing.”

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Hans Wilhelm Lockot – German Scholar and Librarian – 1989

Testimony of the German scholar and librarian Hans Wilhelm Lockot, who for many years was head of the Ethiopian National Library, about His Majesty:
“As well as a vast quantity of administrative detail, he stored personal information about thousands of individuals away in his brain: he knew the names, faces, positions, functions, tribal connections and family relationships of officials, military officers or students. All of them he had personally appointed, promoted, transferred or dismissed, or he had supported their education; and reports on all of them had been submitted to him. It was said he never forgot any conversation he had ever had and indeed from his early youth he had been trained to store everything in his memory. He avoided leaving any written records of his actions and never took notes: only his final decisions went into the files. For the population it was a matter of course that the Elect of God should have supernatural qualities, but for officials it was deeply portentous, and it kept them constantly in a state of apprehension. Even when unexpected situations arose, the Emperor would be able quickly and effortlessly to recall accurate detail of events which had taken place many years before without consulting files or asking his aides.”
Taken from Hans Wilhelm Lockot, “The Mission. The Life, Reign and Character of Haile Selassie I”, London 1989, p.53
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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Nelson Mandela, from his autobiography “The Long Walk to Freedom” – 1994

“Ethiopia has always held a special place in my own imagination and the prospect of visiting Ethiopia attracted me more strongly than a trip to France, England, and America combined. I felt I would be visiting my own genesis, unearthing the roots of what made me an African. Meeting the emperor himself would be like shaking hands with history.” (…)

“Suddenly we heard the distant music of a lone bugle and then the strains of a brass band accompanied by the steady beating of African drums. As the music came closer, I could hear — and feel — the rumbling of hundreds of marching feet. From behind a building at the edge of the square, an officer appeared brandishing a gleaming sword; at his heels marched five hundred black soldiers in rows four across, each carrying a polished rifle against his uniformed shoulder. When the troops had marched directly in front of the grandstand, an order rang out in Amharic, and the five hundred soldiers halted as one man, spun around, and executed a precise salute to an elderly man in a dazzling uniform, His Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, the Lion of Judah.

Here, for the first time in my life, I was witnessing black soldiers commanded by black generals applauded by black leaders who were all guests of a black head of state. It was a heady moment. I only hoped it was a vision of what lay in the future for my own country.” (…)

“The conference was officially opened by our host, His Imperial Majesty, who was dressed in an elaborate brocaded army uniform. I was surprised by how small the emperor appeared, but his dignity and confidence made him seem like the African giant that he was. It was the first time I had witnessed a head of state go through the formalities of his office, and I was fascinated. He stood perfectly straight, and inclined his head only slightly to indicate that he was listening. Dignity was the hallmark of all his actions.”

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

M.Mansfield, Majority Leader of US Senate – 1963

Senate of U.S., Washington, 2nd of October 1963

“It is a great honour and privilege to welcome to the Senate an outstanding Head of State from the great continent of Africa. He governs a nation which is among the oldest, in a historic sense, in the world. It is also among the newest in its dynamic search for a more satisfying participation for all its people in the main-stream of progress in the second half of the 20th century.

The man whom I am to present to the Senate is the Emperor of an ancient land. He is also an exceptional international statesman whose constructive outlook has made a profound impression upon the contemporary councils of the world.

This man has been a living part of the great events of our times. He has experienced these events personally, and He has experienced them as the personification of a peaceful nation, determined to live its own life and to work out its own way of life. He and His nation were both caught up in the feaful tragedies, the high hopes, the illusions, and disillusions – in short, in the cataclysmic upheavals – of a globe in massive transition since the end of World War I. He has suffered much. He has risen above suffering with the wisdom which suffering alone brings; and he has triumphed, not in arrogance, not in vengeance, not in pride. His has been the enduring triumph of humility and a deep human understanding.

The Senate will remember his lonely appearance at the League of Nations in 1936. He spoke, then, from his heart, not only to save his people from invasion, but also to arrest the course of self-destruction upon which a smug, a glib, and an indifferent world was embarked. He was listened to, but He was not heeded. He was persuasive, but the nations of the world were not persuaded. And a few years later the smug, glib and indifferent world began to crumble about those who did not heed, who were not persuaded.

Once again, on Friday, our distinguished visitor will go to address the nations of the world, assembled in the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations. The times are different now; the faces are different; even the nations are different than they were when He appeared in Geneva almost 28 years ago. One would hope – and I am sure that it is a well-founded hope – that His words, enriched by these decades of tragedy and triumph and by profound personal experience, will find in that great assemblage of the world a deep response of heart and mind.”

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Wolf Leslau, Professor of Semitic Languages – 1967

Los Angeles, UCLA, April 24 1967

“Your Imperial Majesty,

it is a great honor for me to welcome You in the name of our Faculty.

We salute in You a living symbol: You are the representative of a country with an old civilization which, although cut off from the Western world for many centuries, has become one of the leading nations of Africa under Your wise leadership.

We salute in You a symbol of education: from the very beginning You have understood that only an educated citizen can be a free and useful citizen. With the limited means at Your disposal, You have promoted the educational system of Your country and symbolized it by assuming personally the post of Minister of Education for many years. (…)

The scientific work of scholars has been made possible thanks to the wholehearted cooperation of your government and your people. I take this opportunity to express to You our gratitude for your cooperation and to wish You a long life for the successful accomplishment of Your goal.”

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies More Speeches of Haile Selassie I

Drew Pearson – Intelligencer Journal (US) – June 11 1964

Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA), June 11 1964
Drew Pearson:

“HAILE SELASSIE LOOKS TO EDUCATION FOR SALVATION

After seeing various parts of Ethiopia as suggested by Emperor Haile Selassie, I came back to see him a second time.

His Imperial Majesty received Mrs. Pearson and me in the throne room of the Jubilee Palace, actually a circular office set off from the residential part of the palace. His Majesty wore a dark business suit with stiff collar and black polka-dot tie, rather than his usual military uniform. He sat behind a desk heaped with papers, and the long list of cabinet officers and ambassadors scheduled to see him indicated that he is very much a working, not a titular, monarch.

His Majesty expressed his pleasure at the fact that we had seen so much of Ethiopia. ‘I hope’, he said, ‘that the time will come when Ethiopia will be not merely a historic country but a well-developed country. Education,’ he said, ‘will be the salvation of Ethiopia. It must be expanded.’ #QHS

The conversation quickly got around to the strained relations between Ethiopia and its desert neighbor, Somalia, which has spearheaded an Arab-Communist drive to subvert its Christian neighbor.

‘Somalia is a football field for the players of the East and the West.’ said the Emperor. ‘The reason for the influx of foreign aid to Somalia is to try to carry out the ideologies of the United States on one hand, Russia on the other. The only sufferer, however, will be Ethiopia.’ #QHS

TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE

I told his Majesty that the United States had been giving Egypt $140,000,000 of wheat and grain annually despite the fact that Nasser had been undercutting American policy in Somalia, in Yemen, and in pressuring Libya to oust our Wheelus Air Force Base. I asked His Majesty whether he thought this food subsidy for Nasser was wise.

‘I am afraid I cannot advise the United States or the American Congress on their policy,’ the Emperor replied. ‘The policy of the United States is to keep a nation out of the hands of the Reds. At least that is the excuse that is always given. Maybe this will bring Egypt over to your side, maybe not.’ #QHS

‘Egypt’, he continued, ‘gave great publicity recently to the help it had received from Russia in building the Aswan dam, but gave the United States no credit for the food it received. When the dam is finished Egypt will be independent and able to grow enough wheat for the needs of its people.’ #QHS

‘Egypt pretends to be a friend of Ethiopia,’ said the Emperor, ‘but we know that all the time it has been helping Somalia; and also getting aid from the Communist countries.’ #QHS

I asked the Emperor what was behind Somalia’s campaign against Ethiopia: religion or territorial ambition ?

‘Both,’ he replied. ‘Religion can be a name for a political instrumental rather than for divine guidance. Somalia has a conception of creating a greater Somalia. Bevan, the former British Foreign Minister, conceived the idea of a greater Somaliland but never fixed the boundaries. Now Somalia is trying to expand its ideas.’ #QHS

‘However’, said the Emperor with quiet conviction in his voice, ‘I do not propose to budge an inch. If I did, what would have been the use of defending our territory in the war with Italy ?’ #QHS

‘Is Ethiopia getting its fair share of American aid?’ I asked, having in mind the huge outlay of Russian-Chinese-European aid poured into Somalia.

‘I do not like to belittle the aid given to Ethiopia by the United States,’ replied His Majesty. ‘It has been helping to a certain extent. But if, for instance, the United States had build the long-discussed dam at Lake Tana, it would have done for us what the Russians have done for Egypt at Aswan.’ ” #QHS

 

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies HIM Visits USA 1954

Daily Princetonian (US) – 1954

Daily Princetonian, 28th of May 1954:

“HAILE SELASSIE WILL VISIT PRINCETON THIS SATURDAY

Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, arrives in Princeton for a short visit at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. The Princeton tour is a part of a 50-day trip to the United States by the noted ruler, who is making his first appearance in this country.

While in Princeton, His Imperial Majesty will view the traditional landmarks on Campus and the Garrett Collection of manuscripts in the Library. At 3:30 a reception in his honor will be held in the Faculty Lounge of the Library.

Arriving in this country last Tuesday, the African ruler thanked President Eisenhower on Wednesday for economic aid to his country. Tomorrow Harlem will greet him, and on Tuesday, June 1, a parade will be held on lower Broadway.

During his stay, Haile Selassie will continue to publicize his country’s untapped resources in hope of getting more investors. American capital has been used extensively in Ethiopia in an effort to bring industry to the nation.

The 62-year-old emperor is well known for his appeal to the League of Nations for economic and military sanctions against Italian aggression before World War II.

In 1938 he said, ‘The League is digging its grave. Is it to end its own existence by tearing up the covenant, which is its sole reason for existence ?’

Following the war he invited Italian prisoners of war to stay in Ethiopia so that their technical talents might be utilized.

The Emperor’s official title since taking the throne in 1930 is: His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Elect of God, King of Kings, King of Zion, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Branch of the Tree of Solomon, and Implement of the Holy Trinity.

The potentate’s party, 25 in number, will remain in Princeton for approximately two hours before motoring to New York. The American visit terminates on July 14.”

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Okemah News Leader (US) – 1954

“HAILE SELASSIE I IS FROM THE LONGEST OF ROYALTY LINES

STILLWATER – His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I, the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia, is at once a personification and a contradiction of his titles.

The emperor, who will spend part of two days at Oklahoma A&M college, his only stop on a flight from California to Mexico City, is a descendent of the oldest and longest line of royalty in recorded history.

And, as the reigning monarch of the oldest Christian nation in the world, his gentleness and culture, his consideration for his subjects and his passion for their progress make him appear as heir of all the wisdom and greatness of character, since his line was founded by the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba nearly 3,000 years ago.

His stature, delicate features and scholarly manner are a contradiction of the Conquering Lion phrase of the title of the 61-year-old emperor. But, when the occasion requires, he is every inch a king and vigorously asserts his authority or expresses his displeasure.

The Solomonic line was established about 1000 B.C. Haile Selassie is the 225th ruler of the line.”

Okemah News Leader, June 22 1954.

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Ge'ez ግእዝ Mysteries Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

The Testimony of Aleqa Desta Tekle Weld

ዘንሙ ፡ ዝናማት ፡ ፊደላተ ፡ ሮማይስጥ ፤ ወመጽኡ ፡ ወሓይዝት ፡ ትምህርታት ፡ ካልኣን ፤ ወነፍኁ ፡ ነፋሳት ፡ ልሳናተ ፡ አፍኣ ፤ ወገፍዕዎ ፡ ለውእቱ ፡ ቤት ፡ ልሳን ፡ ግእዝ ፡ ወዐምሐራ ፤ ወኢወድቀ ፤ እስመ ፡ ዲበ ፡ ኰኵሕ ፡ ኀይለ ፡ ሥላሴ ፡ ተመሥረተ ።

Zenmu Z(e)nnamat Fidelate Romaystt ; WeMetzu WeHayzt T(e)mhrtat Kalan ; WeNeffhu Nefasat Lesanate Affa ; WeGef'(e)wo LeW(e)tu Biet L(e)san G(e)(e)z WeA’mhara ; Weiwed(e)q ; (E)sme Dibe Kwekw(e)h Hayle Selassie Temesrete ::

“Rains rained of roman alphabets; and flowings came, other teachings; and the winds of the tongues of outside blowed; and they oppressed this house of the tongue of Geez and Amhara; and it didn’t fall; because upon the rock, Hayle Sellasie, it was founded.”

Taken from ዐዲስ፡ያማርኛ፡መዝገበ፡ቃላት። / Addis Yamaregna Mezgebe Qalat (New Amharic Dictionary), by አለቃ፡ደስታ፡ተክለ፡ወልድ። / Aleqa Desta Tekle Weld, 1962 E.C., pag. በ (2nd)

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

EL MUNDO (Puerto Rico Newspaper) – W.K. Mayo, 28th of February 1967

EL MUNDO (Puerto Rico)
W.K. Mayo, 28th of February 1967 pag. 7
Translation from Spanish

“SELASSIE OF ETHIOPIA: EMPEROR AND KNIGHT

When few days ago, the Emperor of Ethiopia reached Washington in official visit, President Johnson has received him at the door of the White House, saying: ‘It is a great honor for me to receive the visit of a personality as honorable as Your Majesty’.

In the words of President Johnson there was not any emphasis of protocol, nor diplomatic flattery. They were spontaneously sincere.

Haile Selassie, the Lion of Judah, historical relic of a past that is lost in the legends’ mist – Solomon and the Queen of Sheba -, is today without doubt the world figure with the highest personal relevance.

In a time of democratization and republicanism, of industrial progress, of modernization, Haile Selassie, absolute king, is the keystone of a pre-historic feudal regime. And, despite this, all the world respects him.

Africa, since about 15 years, has been agitated by a tremendous revolution. Colonies have been liberated. There have been convulsions, uprisings, military coups, civil wars… Only Ethiopia remains calm, like an island in the middle of a rough sea.

In the last 25 years, the furious gale of history has swept away figures like Hitler and Mussolini, Victor Emmanuel and Faruk, Stalin and Krushev, Peron and Batista, Lumumba and Krumah … In turn, Haile Selassie continues unharmed upon his throne of Lion of Judah.

Why ? Because this weedy little man is temperamentally a giant.

In 1935-36, when all the world humiliated itself before Hitler and Mussolini, Haile Selassie accomplished the feat of confronting fascism.

(…)

He struggled with staffs and stones against a modernly equipped army… He seemed like a Don Quixote. And he was. A black Don Quixote.

He lost the battle, but won the war.

Haile Selassie is a memorable historic myth in this second half of the 20th century.

This was the meaning of the words of President Johnson, that he said few day ago, in the porch of the White House.

The United States also owes a special debt of gratitude to the Emperor of Ethiopia.

Although old, he was one of the few heads of state who came to Washington, in the mournful days of late November 1963, to attend the funeral of President Kennedy.

The funeral procession, from the Capitol to the Arlington cemetery, thanks to the TV, the whole world witnessed it. Haile Selassie was there.

Now, having finished his official duties, he came especially to New York to visit a certain person…

The newspapers published on the front page the photograph of Haile Selassie, received by Jacqueline Kennedy, at the door of her house, in the Fifth Street.

That an Emperor moves to pay a tribute to a lady, it reflects three things: the change of times, the caliber of the lady and the integrity of the visitor.

Haile Selassie, in addition to being the Lion of Judah, he is a great knight (gentleman).”