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Asfa-Wossen Asserate

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Asfa-Wossen Asserate
Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate in 2012.
Born (1948-10-31) 31 October 1948 (age 76)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Empire
HouseHouse of Solomon
(Selale branch)
FatherLe'ul Ras Asserate Kassa
MotherLe'ult Zuriash Worq
ReligionEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo

Le'ul (Prince) Dr. Asfa-Wossen Asserate (Amharic: አስፋ ወሰን ዓሥራተ; born October 31, 1948 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), is a Consultant for African and Middle-Eastern Affairs, a political Analyst and a bestseller author writing in German. He is a member of the Imperial House of Ethiopia, the great nephew of the last Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I., a great-grandson of the Empress Menen and the son of the last President of the Imperial Crown Council, Le'ul Ras (Duke) Asserate Kassa and his wife Leult (Princess) Zuriash Worq Gabre-Iqziabher, and thus is a member of the Gondarine-Lasta branch of the Imperial House of Ethiopia.

Life

Le'ul (Prince) Dr.[1] (Prince) Asfa-Wossen went to the German school in Addis Abeba, where he received his “Abitur”, before studying law, economics and history in the University of Tübingen and the Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1978, he was awarded a Ph.D. with honors in Ethiopian history at the University of Frankfurt am Main. In 1974 the Communist revolution in Ethiopia made it impossible for him to return to the land of his ancestors: His father and sixty other dignitaries of the Imperial Government were executed without a trial and all the members of the Imperial Family were held in kith and kin detention for over a decade. Whilst in Germany Asfa-Wossen Asserate founded the Human Rights Group for Ethiopia called the “Council for Civil Liberties in Ethiopia (CCLE)” and campaigned for the release of all political prisoners and his detained family until the demise of the Mengistu dictatorship. After leaving university he worked as the Press Officer for the Frankfurter Messegesellschaft (1978-1980), and as the Director of the Press and Information Department of the Düsseldorf Trade Fair and as a freelance journalist (1980-1983). In 1981 he became a German citizen.

Since 1983 he has been working as a Consultant for African and Middle Eastern Affairs, advising middle-sized German companies in respect to their export promotion to these countries. As a political analyst he has written a considerable number of articles and essays in German daily newspapers and learned publications. In 1994 he founded ORBIS AETHIOPICUS, the Society for the Preservation and Promotion of Ethiopian Culture, that holds scientific congresses with a focus on Ethiopian culture, history and archeology and places great endeavor to pass on Ethiopia’s ancient cultural heritage to the new generation.

Literary work

  • Die Deutsche Schule in Addis Abeba – aus äthiopischer Sicht. In: Zeitschrift für Kulturaustausch, Ethiopia. Special edition 1973, E 7225 F, S. 162–175
  • Die Geschichte von Saw¯a (Äthiopien): 1700-1865; after the T¯arika naga´st des Bel¯att¯en g¯et¯a Heruy Walda ´Sell¯as¯e. Frankfurt (Main), Univ., dissertation 1978 (Text Amharic and German) Steiner, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-515-02936-2. (Studien zur Kulturkunde 53.)
  • Manieren. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2003, 388 pages, ISBN 3-8218-4739-5.
  • as editor, with Aram Mattioli: Der erste faschistische Vernichtungskrieg. Die italienische Aggression gegen Äthiopien 1935–1941. SH-Verlag, Köln 2006, ISBN 978-3-89498-162-4 (Italien in der Moderne 13).
  • as editor: Adolph Freiherr Knigge: Benjamin Noldmanns Geschichte der Aufklärung in Abessynien. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-8218-4569-4.
  • Ein Prinz aus dem Hause David und warum er in Deutschland blieb. Scherz, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-502-15063-3.
  • Draußen nur Kännchen. Meine deutschen Fundstücke. Scherz, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-502-15157-9.
  • Afrika. Die 101 wichtigsten Fragen und Antworten, Beck'sche Reihe 7023, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60096-8.
  • Integration oder die Kunst, mit der Gabel zu essen. Utz, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-8316-4044-7.
  • Contributions to the English Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, ISBN 3-447-04746-1.
  • Der letzte Kaiser von Afrika – Triumph und Tragödie des Haile Selassie. Propyläen, Berlin 2014. ISBN 978-3549074282.
Styles of
Asfa-Wossen Asserate
Reference styleHis Highness
Spoken styleYour Highness
Alternative styleSir

Awards

  • 2004 Adelbert von Chamisso Prize for his bestseller Manieren.
  • 2008 Honorary Senator of the Eberhard-Karl-University of Tubingen.
  • 2011 Walter Scheel Prize of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
  • 2011 Listros Award.

Honorary Offices

  • Member of the Innovation Council of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
  • Member of the Alumni Council of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University.
  • Founder and Chairman of the Board of Patrons of ORBIS AETHIOPICUS, the society for the preservation and promotion of Ethiopian Culture (since 1994).
  • Chairman of the Board of the Society for Museums in Ethiopia.
  • Chairman of the Advisory Board of the German-Ethiopian Students and Graduate Association (DÄSAV e.V.).
  • Patron of Project E (Ethiopia, Education, English).
  • Patron of the Ethiopian National Arts Council (ENAC).
  • President of the Council for Civil Liberties in Ethiopia (CCLE).
  • Patron of TheMoveForwardProject.
  • Royal Protector of the Ordo Militiae Christi Templi Hierosolymitani (2008).[2]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Asfa-Wossen Asserate.

References

  1. ^ Royal Ark
  2. ^ OMCTH Grand Priory of Poland - in Polish

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