Category: Haile Selassie I – Testimonies

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the U.S. President F.D.Roosevelt – 1954

New York – Friday, May 29 1954

“This country is happy to be visited by the courageous Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, and to entertain him as an honored guest.

Older people will remember his passionate plea to the League of Nations for the protection of his country against the invading Italian forces in 1935. And it will also be remembered that Ethiopia sent its contingent of soldiers to Korea. The Ethiopians were among the finest groups of soldiers who visited the United Nations General Assembly in Paris in 1951 to be congratulated by that body for their services in Korea.

In my short address to them at that time, I quoted from a speech made to them by Emperor Haile Selassie when they left for the front. It was one of the finest statements I had read of the purpose for which the U.N. was fighting in Korea, and it held high standards up for these soldiers to live by.

I hope those who greet the Emperor here will remember the fine record of his soldiers in Korea, when they fought side by side with our own men.

Ethiopia is largely a Christian country, with religious traditions going back to the earliest days of Christianity. Our citizens will be anxious to learn more of conditions in the Emperor’s country and of the ways in which our two countries can cooperate for the improvement of world conditions.”

Hyde Park – Tuesday 2nd June 1954

“On Sunday morning we had the pleasure of having the Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visit us here at Hyde Park. He laid a wreath on my husband’s grave, then paid a short visit to the home and the Memorial Library. He was much interested in my husband’s variety of interests, looked at the model ships and went through the stacks where papers and books are kept.

He reached my cottage just at 1 o’clock, when the recording of his appearanee on the television program, “Youth Wants to Know,” was shown. The young people had asked him many questions and he had answered them willingly and cordially. Naturally, he wanted to see and hear the recording as it was going out over the country, so for half an hour we watched television.

Since his schedule required him to be in New York City by 4:30, he had to leave here between 2:15 and 2:30. You can imagine that a buffet lunch served to 40 persons in three-quarters of an hour is rather hurried! But I think several people had a chance to talk to the Emperor while he ate; and I had a few minutes of conversation with him quietly before he left. (…)

I found the Emperor a most delightful person. His son is very unassuming and charming, and so is his granddaughter. In fact, I have rarely had a more enjoyable official party here. Though they were hurried, they behaved as though everything was just the way they wished it to be, and I hope they will carry away pleasant memories of their short time with us.”

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Dr. E. C. Pearce, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University – 1924

Cambridge, UK, 18th July 1924

“Your Highness! As we have heard of your initiative and perseverance in leading your country Ethiopia in wisdom and knowledge, we bestow upon you the honorary degree of Doctor of Law.”

(…)

“Your Highness!

The poet Homer says the Ethiopians are blameless. Herodotus says the Ethiopians are longlived because they do not drink wine at all.

It is a fact that the Ethiopians refused to pay tribute to Cambyses and to the Persian kings. Subsequently, they turned back victoriously all who came to take their country by force. Who does not know that the Queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon’s fame, came by camel bearing spices, gold, and gems to try the king with riddles? Who does not know that she returned to her country to be the mother of all the kings? Who does not remember, as the centuries unfolded, their descent from David? Who does not know of their being of the family of Queen Candace? All this proves the establishment of their Christianity over the whole of Ethiopia and their possession of an ancient faith over a long history.

A man who had studied at Christ’s College in Cambridge University has, in recent years, revealed to the English people the literature and law books of Ethiopia.

Today there is amongst us Tafari Makonnen, Ethiopia’s Crown Prince. He follows in the footsteps of his ancestors and possesses knowledge exceeding that of orientals and Egyptians. He explores ancient and modern knowledge. He has studied all the ancient Christian traditions. He endeavours to acquire modern science. H.H. Tafari Makonnen is the first Ethiopian Crown Prince who has gone up in an aeroplane.

He has caused the books of John Chrysostom and of Mar Yeshaq to be translated from Ge’ez into Amharic and had them printed at his own press. These books can be found in the Cambridge University Library. Furthermore, he has built a school for the children of Ethiopia.

We therefore make known to all of you here Ethiopia’s great Crown Prince and Regent, H.H. Tafari Makonnen, the hope of Ethiopia, who is descended from ancient kings.”

 

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Archibishop of Canterbury Randall Davidson, Head of the Anglican Church – 1924

London, 11th July 1924

“Your Highness!

It gives me very great pleasure to welcome Your Highness to Lambeth Palace which is the main centre of the English Church. From time to time I receive those who are the important representatives of the branches of the Church of Christ. But there has never before visited Lambeth anyone whose church stands, in terms of antiquity, in first place among the Christians of the world.

Your Highness! Your Church has an ancient history of about 1600 years. Its beginnings approach the even earlier period of the apostles of Our Lord. Your Church has a history which is related to the time of Athanasius and his companions. Your Highness is not only holding on to ancient traditions, but it is your glory to develop Christian civilization for the future and to spread the Christian scriptures among your people.

From your printing press issue not only ancient and modern religious books. But you yourself are an active participant in the work. The Ethiopian books which Your Highness has caused to be printed have an introduction by you: Everyone who studies the books of Chrysostom and of the monk Mar Yeshaq will derive much benefit.

It is not to be doubted that the main object of your present journey is to acquaint yourself with the modern western world. Be it in spiritual or in secular terms, your visit is to all of us a perpetual joy. I feel assured that your country’s spiritual and secular wellbeing is well placed in your hands and that there is due to you every possible assistance for your beneficent endeavours.

With cordial friendship and high hopes we wish that everything for which you have come here may prosper.“

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Dimetri Papapouleas, Head of the University of Athens – 1924

Athens, 19th August 1924

“Your Highness!

It is in the midst of Athens University that the soul of Greece is being revealed. This evening we are pleased to welcome the representative of a people tied to Greece by inseparable ties and by a friendship that is based on ancient historical traditions.

Your Highness’ presence amongst us is apt to strengthen and to renew those memories of 1600 years.

Two Greeks, the sons of Meropius the merchant, Frumentius and Aedesius, were taken prisoner at the Ethiopian seaboard and thus entered the country. They founded the Church of Ethiopia by teaching the country’s inhabitants and by becoming apostles of the faith.

Your Highness, the affection which binds the two countries together began at that time. In the year 325 Athanasius, the great bishop of Christian Greece, bestowed at Alexandria the name of founder of the Church of Ethiopia upon Frumentius and did so with great glory. And he also anointed him bishop of the Ethiopian Church.

Again, in a different context, Heliodorus of Emesa refers to these historical memories in the book of romance which he wrote. In this book he presents the Ethiopian king’s daughter as beautiful and comely.

The Ethiopians were very well known to Homer and to Herodotus who refers to them in his history and to Strabo who speaks about them a great deal in his geography. By virtue of these old traditions the kings of modern Ethiopia have always cultivated true friendship with Greece. Above all, Emperor Yohannes and Emperor Menelik have uttered words of sincere affection for our country in exchanges of letters with the Greek Government.

Your Highness! Our brothers who live in your country are always telling us with feelings of deep gratitude of the welcome and friendship they have encountered among your people. This goes so far that it is virtually granted to them to be like brothers. We are very glad, therefore, to receive today as guest amongst us the representative of this people.

Greek writers, who have described the details of their journeys and whose books are read with benefit, have emphatically shown the extreme natural beauty of Ethiopia. They have described the different kinds of air currents, trees, and leaves as well as the beauty of the sun which, through its light, reveals the beauty of the country.

Your Highness! For a long time now the Greeks have considered everything that is good for your country as their own advantage. Each time they find an opportunity they affirm the thoughts of friendship which they have for the kings of Ethiopia and for the people.

This feeling does not only arise from the friendship which you have for us. What we have achieved in our past history and by our character is due to our respect for the supremeness of learning and complete love of freedom to the point of heroism. Therefore, it is not at all a strange thing for us to consolidate our friendship for the Ethiopian people through the study which our history affords us.

We are aware that Ethiopia’s success in guarding her independence at all times arises from the mountains which have been given to her by nature and which separate her from all the other African countries. It is proper to say that Ethiopia has been the bastion of Christianity for more than a millennium among the savages and pagans in the arid desert. Homer said of the Ethiopians that they excelled above others. Diodorus speaks of their virtue. He admires their fight for their freedom.

At the time of Alexander the Great and his heirs Greek culture had entered Ethiopia and had opened a new road of civilization. It left written monuments (a map) which demonstrate its progress. The Ptolemies and the Byzantine kings desired the Ethiopian people to establish a basis and to extend their rule up to the Red Sea. When Byzantium fought with the Persians, it threw into the battle the might of the Ethiopians. Your Highness’ country was a crossroads and meeting point of the civilized nations in the Mediterranean and Indian areas. Since the Greeks were at that time held in great honour in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian kings are said to have known the Greek language.

According to those who have studied the history of the Ethiopian Church, in the fourth century this Church, strong in its faith, was doing everything that was necessary to enable the Christian religion to spread over all the distant lands in Africa. But the rise of Islam and its constant and progressive growth greatly weakened the strength of the Ethiopian people as Islam defeated, by the force of the sword, the countries in North Africa.

But eventually, defending themselves with the heroism which derives from their nature, the Ethiopians overcame the might of the Muslims. They built once again the Church of Aksum at the place to which the Muslims had set fire. It may be said that the rebuilding of this Church is a great good fortune and luck for Ethiopia.

By the intelligence of its kings and rulers since the last century, this country has once again taken the road of renewal. It is this road of renewal that is leading this beloved and courageous people towards national unity in equality.

The University of Athens, at this place where the leaders of the Greek people are assembled, greets the courageous ruler of the Ethiopian people, the son of Makonnen.

The Greek people request that you will accept their best wishes for the prosperity of the Ethiopian people as well as their firm resolve for a progressive strengthening of the ties of friendship which exist between the two nations.”

 

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Philip Noel Baker – Nobel Prize 1959

Philip Noel-Baker, British Politician and Academic, Nobel Prize 1959 for his efforts towards world disarmament.
Letter to His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I
London, December 5 1959
“Your Imperial Majesty,
I have just received Your Majesty’s most gracious letter about the Nobel Prize, and I write at once to express my deep appreciation of what Your Majesty was good enough to say.
When I think of the gallant struggle of Ethiopia in 1935-6, the non-violent but magnificent resistance until 1940, Your Majesty’s courageous return, and the wonderful way in which the Ethiopian people regained their freedom without inflicting any reprisals on the Italians who had behaved so badly, I think it one of the most inspiring pieces of modern history.
I find no less inspiring the way in which Your Majesty has reconstructed the country, and is building up its social system, its economic strength and its spiritual power.
I do everything I can to make known to my compatriots and others what a wonderful example Your Majesty and Your Majesty’s people have given to the world.
With my gratitude again, and my humble duty and devotion.
Your Majesty’s obedient servant, PHILIP NOEL-BAKER“

 

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Princess Asfa Yilma – 1936

“THE EMPEROR’S SECRET
Haile Selassie rules because he knows the true foundation of a ruler’s strength. If ever there was a man who realised that knowledge is power he is that man. Desire for knowledge is the mainspring of his character. In saying this I speak from personal experience.
When he was in England in 1924 he received me in private when the diplomatic functions were over and quietly and shrewdly questioned me concerning everything in London which he had found difficult to understand. As I answered his questions I had a feeling that each fact was quietly seized upon and stored away for use at some future time. Nothing escaped him. His penetrating enquiries concerning the political situation would, I remember thinking, have astounded the various functionaries who had treated him with somewhat superior politeness and answered him with official caution, amounting usually to evasiveness. He was in Europe for many reasons, but above all to learn. (…)
‘You knew my father, did you not?’ #QHS asked the Emperor. I said that I had met Ras Makonnen, Governor of Harar, only on one occasion, but that I had always remembered his strength and charm. The Emperor smiled. ‘They thought well of him in London I am told?’ #QHS
It was a happiness to reply with truth that during my years in England I had several times heard from officials concerned with Ethiopian affairs how greatly the character and ability of the Emperor’s father had been respected.
As I spoke he said nothing, but I saw a look of resolution come into his eyes, determination that he would be worthy of his father.
Then picked up a volume from the table at his side.
‘Will you tell your cousin when next you see him that I value his dictionary’, he said. ‘It is a fine piece of work and the greatest assistance to us all’. #QHS
He was referring to my cousin, Charles Ambruster, British Consul at Gondar in Nothern Abyssinia who, having retired to Majorca, had compiled an Amharic dictionary, the first attempt at an exhaustive guide to that elusive language. I was glad to be able to assure him that my cousin was well.
‘There is still a monument to your father in Ethiopia’, said the Emperor, smiling. At first I did not understand. ‘The cannon which he cast for the Emperor Theodore. You know the story?’. #QHS
I had heard my father tell it many times.
‘I believe it was never fire?’
The Emperor’s smile grew wider.
‘No, it was never fired, Princess, but for a man who knew nothing of such things it was a wonderful achievement. We have yet to make another. That was sixty years ago and we have still no factories’. #QHS
‘You have not seen factories in England, your Highness?’
‘No, not yet’ #QHS
‘One part of England where there are many of them they call the Black Country’.
The ruler from the East was puzzled.
‘The smoke blackens everything. It hides the sky. Factories can be very terrible.’
The Emperor slowly nodded.
‘We shall not go too fast’, #QHS he said.
Seated in a high-backed chair, a pile of books and newspapers beside him, he takled alternately in French and Amharic, touching on many subjects. He did not pose. It was his air of simplicity that charmed me. London had excited him; he did not attempt to conceal it. That morning he had spent in a famous Knightsbridge store. ‘One day’, he said, ‘they shall open a branch in my capital’. He smiled as he spoke. ‘Wait’, he said, ‘I will show you what I have bought and how much they charged me. Then you shall tell me if I have done well.’ #QHS
Having spoken he raised his hands and clapped three times. At once a servant emerged from behind a curtain – and I realised even in London he had maintained the rules of his palace and always had assistance close at hand. The various lists were brought and I glanced through them. He had spent over one thousand pounds, buying with excellent judgment and with little of that love of the ornate and curious which eastern potentates so often display. I was able to tell him that the prices where reasonable, and he nodded agreement. ‘Yes’, he said, ‘they do not cheat you in trade, the English. I like London. Everything here is so …’ he paused in search of a word. ‘So firm’, he said at last. ‘Everything here is so firm’. #QHS
Almost at once he began to speak of labour troubles, of Socialism. Was there any chance of this, he asked ? Would it do harm ? He spoke without prejudice and as one well acquainted with Socialist theory though very skeptical as to its practical application. I answered as well as I was able, probably knew much more than I did. He saw that I was not likely to give useful answers and at once sought another topic.
He had been charmed by the Prince of Wales. One day that young man would rule a vast Empire. Would he be friendly to Ethiopia ?
I gave what assurance I felt able, wondering inwardly at that strange gift which had enabled the Prince of Wales to find in a brief interview and without the least effort a friendly footing with an Ethiopian Emperor.
‘I hope that he will visit me at Addis Ababa’, said the Emperor. ‘I will find good hunting for him. He shall see how our men can shoot and ride… And you must come too, Princess. You have stayed away too long…’ He looked at me reflectively. ‘ Don’t you find your husband very white?’ he asked. #QHS
It was a gentle, friendly question, and the Emperor smiled as he spoke; but I sensed the hint of reproof in the tone and felt the intense pride of race that was summed up in those simple words.
The Emperor renewed his invitation with the utmost cordiality. Then all at once he frowned. ‘Your husband was a soldier. They tell me he has fought in the East ?’. I said that this was so. ‘You must bring him out to me’, he said. ‘Our neighbours are becoming too … friendly. I fear we shall have trouble soon’. #QHS
The grave tone was prophetic. Then the Emperor was smiling again, telling me that the Empress wished very much to see me, that she had sent me her portrait, that she hoped my family were blessed by God’s mercy, that she would remember me in her prayers.”
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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Il Popolo d’Italia, Newspaper Founded by B.Mussolini – November 1930

“Popolo D’Italia”, Italian Newspaper founded by Benito Mussolini
4th of November 1930
“TAFARI MAKONNEN CROWNED EMPEROR
The festive cerimony in the Ethiopian capital city.
With most sumptuous solemnity the Emperor Haile Selassie I has been crowned yesterday morning, by the envoy of the Patriarch of Alexandria, Emperor and King of Kings of Ethiopia. The cerimony had a grandeur that surpasses any imagination, and that has reunited in one splendid frame the lavish ancient magnificence perpetuated by the tradition, and the new aspects that our time and the contacts with our world start to impress on these ancient feudal and warrior people. (…)
In the sky, six airplanes fly: one of them is a gift of the Italian government to the Emperor, its pilot is captain Marazzini. The cannons fire the last blanks for the glory of the King of Kings, so joyfully ascended to the throne of Salomon’s descent.“
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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Giuseppe Faraci, Italian Journalist – 1965

“These pages want to bear witness of the political wisdom and high human values by which Haile Selassie I, emperor of Ethiopia, lead his people, in the domestic and foreign affairs. These qualities have been particularly expressed in favor of the Italians after his return to the motherland, in 1941.
Moreover, this book want to manifest the feelings of admiration and friendship that Italian people, also since before that time, cherish for the Ethiopian people and their sovereign.”
“3000 years and 224 emperors have passed away, and we reach Haile Selassie I. (…) He is the sovereign that has struggled more for his country, for remove Ethiopia from Middle Age and lead her on the way of modern civilization.
Tireless at work, his day starts at the 6 AM, and ends the night at late hour. He often visits the provinces, without forgetting the darkest villages, that he reaches by strong cars and even mules. Since 5th of May 1941 to 5th of May 1965, he has travelled for more than 1,500,000 Km through the woods.
A man 73 years old, minuscule, small hands, vivid and good glance of wit. The goodness, the human sense, are the most visible qualities in him. He got energy, vigour, endurance in adversities, readiness to take the favourable occasions. Most intelligent, of exceptional mildness of spirit, but inflexible when it is due.
But above all, he is a man having a great faith. In his speeches, he never forget to call on God and Providence. He is firmly sure that God will assist him in leading Ethiopia, and will make him able to achieve the goals he has set. But he also has faith in himself, in his own courage, in his own will, in his conviction to represent the maximum source of wellbeing of his people.
Everything that Haile Selassie I has achieved, has been dominated by this double force, God and himself. His heroic acts, his patient ascension from ras to Neguse Negest, his serene courage during the fascist war, his exile into England, they are all evidences of faith in God and trust in his own mission. His return to his re-conquered motherland was the just prize for this huge character and faith. He is the statesman and ruler that has gathered in himself more history than any other.”
(Taken from “Etiopia Guerra e Pace”, G.Faraci, 1965 Edizioni dell’albero.)
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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Birmingham Gazette (UK) – October 1954

From “Birmingham Gazette”, October 15 1954:
“WHY, HE HASN’T CHANGED AT ALL
When the Emperor Haile Selassie stepped from his carriage on to the red carpet at Victoria Station today there was a gasp of surprise from the people who remembered him in London during his exile.
Except for his splendiferous uniform and cocked hat with its lion’s mane, he looked just as he used to do some 15 and more years ago. Not a grey hair streaked his beard which is a little more neatly trimmed nowadays.
His melancholy face with its dark eyes and fine features is only a little older, his figure is as slight, and now, as then, it was the superb dignity of this tiny man which made the chief impression.
In the old days he had the dignity of suffering and of protest. Today he had a grave and royal manner as he went through the ceremonial of a state arrival, kissed the Queen’s hand, greeted Sir Winston and inspected the guard of honour.
IN AMHARIC
On of the heroes of the Emperor’s arrival was the officer commanding the guard of honour from the 3rd Grenadiers. This tall young major approached the Emperor and addressed him in his native language of Amharic, inviting him to inspect the guard. A flicker of pleasure passed across Haile Selassie’s face at this courtesy from the non-linguist British. The man who learnt to report in Amharic that the guard was ‘dressed and correct and ready for inspection’ was 28-year-old Major Nicholas Hale-Pakenham-Mahon“.
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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

U.S. President L.B. Johnson – 1967

White House, Washington, U.S.A.
February 14, 1967
Your Imperial Majesty, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Chief Justice, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
It is a high privilege tonight to honor one of this century’s most courageous, farsighted, and respected statesmen, who has earned an indelible place in the hearts of men everywhere.
Monarch of the oldest Christian kingdom and an ancient civilization, you, Your Majesty, personify to us the eternal spirit of devotion to freedom and independence of your Ethiopian people.
The essence of the Ethiopian character was put in your stirring words many years ago: “With God’s help, we have always stood proud and free upon our native mountains.”
It is difficult for me to express to you tonight the very special place that you occupy in our tradition.
Indeed, in the tradition of all mankind.
Many of us in this room tonight recall the night of June 28, 1936, when the Emperor of Ethiopia made a plea to the League of Nations.
A plea for his suffering people which was also a very moving appeal to the conscience of humanity.
Your Majesty’s final question to the League has echoed down the years with prophetic impact:
“I ask the 52 nations who have given the Ethiopian people a promise to help them in their resistance to the aggressor, what are they willing to do for Ethiopia?
“And the great powers who have .promised the guarantee of collective security to small states on whom weighs the threat that they may one day suffer the fate of Ethiopia, I ask, what measures do you intend to take?
“Representatives of the world, I have come to Geneva to discharge in your midst the most painful of the duties of the head of a state.
“What reply shall I have to take back to my people?”
We all know–to. our shame–the reply Your Majesty received.
The betrayal of Ethiopia was in truth the turning point on the road to aggression and war.
Its lesson has been etched into our memory and has spurred us in building a world where solid commitments to resist oppression are no longer just scraps of paper.
Your Majesty, we also recall with great pleasure your triumphant return to Addis Ababa. And your remarkable reconstruction of your nation as you put into action your long-held and long-frustrated ideals of modernization:
–building schools, a fine university, hospitals, dams, airports, factories;
–turning Addis Ababa into a dynamic, beautiful, modern city;
–proclaiming a revised constitution and legal system;
–training young Ethiopians for the tasks of the future in the 20th century. Your Majesty has not confined your concern just to your people.
We have all witnessed and can testify to with admiration your striking performance as a leader of Africa’s many and diverse peoples–and as a mediator in potentially explosive confrontations between various African states.
The Organization of African Unity-which your initiative in 1963 was instrumental in creating–is one of the most hopeful institutions in the movement towards peace, reason, and unity in the great Continent of Africa.
It has always been a unique privilege and pleasure for me to have an opportunity to exchange views on international affairs with one whom I consider to be one of the world’s greatest eider statesmen.
Today, as in 1963 when we last talked, we had an immediate sense of the great mutual understanding and respect that our people entertain for each other.
Your Majesty, we treasure deeply this relationship. It is my genuine and most earnest hope that succeeding generations of our peoples will continue to reinforce the solid edifice of American-Ethiopian amity and understanding.
On this happy occasion, here tonight in the first house of this land, Mrs. Johnson and I, on behalf of our distinguished guests, all of those who are privileged to come here and be together tonight, and certainly on behalf of all of the American people, propose a toast to Your Majesty–respected statesman, peacemaker in the world, and most honored and trusted friend.