26/06/2022
πͺπΉ| Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie at his home in Bishoftu. Haile Selassie, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, ruled as King of Ethiopia (or negus) before being crowned Emperor in 1930. Photographed by Genevieve Chauvel.
βͺBorn Tafari Makonnen, he served as regent for Zauditu from 1916 to 1930. After Zauditu's death, he was crowned emperor of Ethiopia on November 2, 1930, and took the name Haile Selassie I (βMight of the Trinityβ).
As emperor of Ethiopia (1930β74), Haile Selassie I was known for modernizing his country, for helping to establish the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) in 1963, for his exile during the Italo invasion in (1936β41), and for being overthrown by the Derg in 1974. He was also regarded as the messiah of the African race by many Rastas.
When Haile Selassie I died on August 27, 1975, official sources at the time attributed his death to natural causes, but evidence later emerged suggesting that he had been str@ngled on the orders of the military government that had deposed him the previous year and then kept him under house arrest.
Emperor Haile Selassie died in 1975, but he lives on through the romantic lyrics of the late Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley,Marleyβs portrayal of Selassie is strongly influenced by the Rastafarian belief.