Tag: #testimony

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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

American Journalist and Hunter, James Baum – 1927

“There is little question that Tafari Makonnen is a humane man. Public hangings used to be the rule until recently. It was a common sight two of three years ago, to see the dried and rattling corpses of evil-doers swinging in the wind from a large wild fig tree in the market place in Addis. But the Regent has done away with such gruesome spectacles. And two persons – a man and a woman – who made an attempt upon his life a short time ago were not executed. Lidj-Yasu, the ex-ruler, deposed by Tafari for his flirtations with the Mohammedian church, was not put to death but is kept under guard in a outlying part of the country: Ras Tafari is more lenient than many other monarchs.

The power of the Regent is steadily increasing. (…) Ras Tafari, I believe, is trying to do away with the hereditary rulers of provinces and in some places a governor alien to the district has been appointed. (…) Again, it should be mentioned, Ras Tafari has one of the most difficult positions in the world.”

(Taken from “Savage Abyssinia”, James Baum, 1927)

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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

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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Haile Selassie I - Testimonies

Sri Aurobindo – Important Indian Mystic

Poetical Work of Sri Aurobindo, important Indian mystic, inspirator of “Auroville”. Probably written during the Italo-Ethiopian War.