Emperor Yohannis IV was born Kassa Mercha, son of Dejazmatch Mercha, Shum of Tembien, and his wife Woizero Silass. Dejazmatch Mercha was the hereditary Shum Tembien, and claimed primacy over the lords of Tigrai. His mother was a decendant of the Ras Michael Sihul, who had became Enderase of the Empire during the reign of Emperor Eyoas. Ras Michael would later order the murder of that Emperor and rise to such power that some date the begining of the Zemene Mesafint to this event. Read more »

Emperor Tewodros II was born Kassa Haile Giorgis, (often refered to as Kassa Hailu), the son of a minor nobleman of Qwara district of Dembia, a region of western Beghemider province bordering on the Sudan. His actual place of birth was in the small villiage of Dawa, located about 12 kilometers from the city of Gondar, in 1818. His father, Haile Giorgis Wolde Giorgis would die long before Kassa could possibly have remembered him. Kassa’s paternal grandfather was Dejazmatch Wolde Giorgis, a prominent nobleman of his time. Kassa’s mother was named Woizero Attitegeb Wondbewossen, and her paternal grandfather was Ras Wodajo, another powerful and prominent nobleman. Read more »

Emperor Menelik II was the son of King Haile Melekot of Shewa, and Woizero Ijigayehu. King Haile Melekot was the son of the first king of Shewa, King Sahle Selassie and his wife Bezabish. Woizero Ijigayehu was a woman in the service of Zenebework, the mother of King Sahle Selassie, and grandmother of King Haile Melekot. She is said to have been from Gondar, and may have been one of the people brought to Ankober, to help structure the Shewan court in accordance to the practices of the Gondar court, training young princesses in proper etiquette and behavior. Read more »

Lij Eyasu Michael was the son of Ras (later King)Michael Ali of Wollo, and Woizero Shewaregga Menelik, and was born in 1901. Lij Eyasu’s father, Ras Michael Ali, was the ruler of the Wollo Oromo clan known as the Mammadoch. He was related to both of the rival Mammadoch Queens, Werqitu and Mestawat, who had fought each other as well as Emperor Tewodros II on behalf of their young sons for leadership of the Mammadoch and rule over Wollo. Born Mohammed Ali, son of Imam Ali Abba Dulla, a Moslem noble claiming direct decent from the Prophet Mohammed himself, Ras Michael (pronounced Mika-el)had been compeled to convert to Christianity by Emperor Yohannis IV following the Council of Boru Meda in 1878. Read more »

Empress Zewditu was the daughter of Emperor Menelik II, by Woizero Abechi, a woman of mid-level nobility, born shortly after Menelik returned to Shewa following his captivity at Magdalla. Woizero Abechi died while Zewditu was still a very young child, so Zewditu was raised by her father, in the care of nannies, and was closer to him than any other person save his wife Empress Taitu. Zewditu also had a half sister, Woizero Shewaregga Menelik, the mother of Lij Eyasu, and a half brother, Prince Asfaw Wossen Menelik, who died in 1888 while still a child. Read more »

Emperor Haile Selassie I was born on July 23,1894,as Lij Taffari Makonnen at Enjersa Goro, just outside the city of Harrar. His parents were Ras Makonnen Wolde Michael, the governor of Harrar, and his wife, Woizero Yeshimebet Ali AbaJiffar. Ras Makonnen was the son of Dejazmatch Wolde Michael Wolde Melekot, a noble of Doba in northern Shewa. Ras Makonnen’s paternal grandfather was Ato Wolde Melekot Yemane Kristos a Tigrean noble from Tembien who had moved to Shewa. Ras Makonnen’s mother however was Woizero Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, daughter of King Sahle Selassie of Shewa, sister of King Haile Melekot of Shewa, and aunt to Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. Read more »