"Empress Zewditu"(April 29,1876-April 2,1930)

Was Empress of Ethiopia from 1916-1930.The first woman head of an internationally recognized state of Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries,she was noted opposing the reforms Tafari Makonnen (later Emperor Haile Selassie  I) and for her strong religious devotion.Baptised as Askala Maryam ("Askal of Mary,"a type of flower),using the name given name of Zewditu (known erroneously as Judith in English),the future Empress was the eldest daughter of the then Negus (or King) Menelik of Shewa,the future emperor Menelek II  of  Ethiopia.Her mother,Weyziro (Lady)Abechi,was a noblewoman of Wollo and a brief companion of Menelek.Her mother had separated from Menelik when Zewditu was very young,and the future empress was raised by her father and his consort Baffana.Negus Menelik later married Taytu Betu he had no children with this wife.Menelik had three acknowledged children:Zewditu herself herself,a son Asfaw Wossen who died in infancy,and another daughter Shewa Regga,the mother of Lij Iyasu,Menelik's eventually heir.The emperor remained close to Zewditu,who also had good relations with her stepmother Empress Taytu,and was part of her father's household for most of her life.In 1886, ten-year-old was married to Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes,and heir of Emperor Yohannes IV,The marriage was political,having been arrange when Menelik agreed to submit to Yohanne's rule.Yohannes and Menelik eventually fell into conflict again,however with Menelik launching a rebellion against Yohanne's rule.Zewditu marriage was childless,being young doing her marriage although her husband had fathered a son by another woman.When Araya Selassie died in 1888 she left Menelik and returned to her father's court in Shewa.Despite the hostility between Menelik and Yohannes,Zewditu managed throughout the conflict to maintain good relations with both.She had two further marriages,both brief,before marrying Ras Gugsa Welle.Gugsa was the nephew of Empress Taytu,Zewditu's stepmother.She had already been on good terms with Taytu,but the establishment of a direct tie between the two helped cement the relationship.Unlike her prior marriages,Zewditu's marriage to Gugsa is through to have been happy.Upon the death of Emperor Yohannis IV at the Battle of Metemma against the Mahdist of the Sudan,Negus Menelek of Shewa assumed power and become Emperor in 1889.This restored the direct male succession of the dynasty,as Emperor Yohannes's claim to the throne was through a female link to the line.As the daughter of Menelek II,Zewditu would be the last monarch in direct agnatic descent from the Solomonic dynastic.Her successor Halie Selassie was also linked in the female line.In 1913,Menelik,died and Lij lyasu,the son of Zewditu half-sister Shewa-Regga,who had been publicly declared heir apparent in 1909,took the throne.Lyasu considered a potential threat to his rule,and exiled her and her husband to the countryside.Due to fears of instability that might be caused,the cabinet of ministers decided not to publicly proclaim the death of Meneik II.As a result,Lyasu was never officially proclaimed as Emperor Lyasu V.Both Menelik's death and Lyasu's de-facto accession were widely disliked by the nobility for his unstable behavior,and the church held him in suspicion for his alleged Muslim sympathies.After a troubled few years,Lyasu was removed from power.Zewditu to the capital,and on September 27 1916,the Council of State and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church officially announced the death of Emperor Menelik II and deposed Lyasu in favour of Zewditu's official title was "Queen of Kings"a modification title "King of Kings."Initially,she was not permitted to exercise power herself.Instead her cousin Ras Tafari Makonnen was appointed regent,and her father's old loyal general Fitawrari Hapte Giorgis Dinagde was made commander in chief of the army.Ras Tafari was also made heir apparent to Zewditu-none of Zewditu's children had survived to adulthood in 1928,after an attempt to remove Ras Tafari Makonnen from power failed,the Empress was compelled to crown her cousin Negus.While the conservative Ethiopian aristocracy was generally supportive of Zewditu,it was less enthusiastic about many of her relatives.Her stepmother and the aunt of her husband,Dowager Eempress Taytu Betul had withdrawn from the capital after Menelik's death,but was still distrusted somewhat due to the evident favorism she had practiced during the reign of her late husband.In an attempt to limit her influence,the aristocracy arranged for nephew(Zewditu's husband Ras Gugsa Welle) to be appointed to a remote governorship,removing him from court.This move,while intended as a strike against Taytu rather than against Zewditu,is believed to have upset Zewditu considerably.She also suffered guilt for taking the throne from Lij Lyasu,who her father had wanted to succeed him while- she believed that lyasu's overthrow was necessary,she had admired her father greatly,and was unhappy at having to disobey his wishes.Her separation from her husband and her guilt about Lyasu's overthrow combined to make Zewditu not particularly happy as empress.Interestingly,even though he had had treated her adominably,she held much personal affection for nephew Lyasu,and is said to have wept bitterly,for him when told that she was being Empress as her nephew had been excommunicated for apostasy.Increasingly,the Empress retreated from state responsibility into a world of fasting and prayer,as the progressive elements that surrounded the heir,Tafari Makonnen gained in strength and influence at court.The early period of Zewditu's reign was marked by a war against Lij Lyasu,who had escaped captivity.Backed by his father,Negus Mikael of Wollo,a powerful northern leader,Lyasu attempted to regain the throne.The two failed to effectively coordinate their efforts and after some initial victories Lyasu's father was defeated and captured at the Battle of Segale.Negus was paraded through the streets of Addis Ababa of Ethiopian tradition.She had the strong backing of the church in this belief.Slowly Zewditu began to withdraw from active politics leaving more and more power to Tafari.Under Tafari's direction,Ethiopia entered the League of Nations,and abolished slavery.Zewditu busied herself with religious activities,such as the construction of a number of  significant churches.In 1928,there was a small conservative uprising against Tafari's reform,it was unsuccessful.Empress was compelled to grant Tafari,who now controlled most of the Ethiopian government,the title of King (Negus).While Negus Tafari remained under the nominal rule of Zewditu (who was still Negeste Negest,Queen of Kings or Empress),Tafari was now effectively the ruler of Ethiopia.A number of attempts were made to displace him,they were all unsuccessful.In 1930,Zewditu's husband Ras Gugsa Welle led a rebellion against Negus Tafari in Begemder,hoping to end the regency in spite of his wife's repeated pleas and orders to desist,but was defeated killed in battle by the modernised Ethiopian army at the Battle of Anchem on March 31 1930.On April 2,1930,two two days after Ras Gugsa Welle was killed in battle,Empress Zewditu died.It is now known that she suffered from diabetes,and was seriously ill with typhoid,it is universally agreed that this was the cause of her death.According to some histories,Zewditu died of shock and grief at hearing of her husband's death,others accounts contradict this,claiming that she was not informed of the battles's outcome before her sudden death.Some diplomatic sources in Addis Ababa reported at the time the fever stricken Empress was immersed in a large container of fridgidly cold holy water to cure her of her illness,that her body went into shock and she died shortly thereafter.The timing of her death immediately after news of the outcome of the battle reached Addis Ababa has caused considerable speculation as to her cause of death.Some particularly conservative critics of her successor,Emperor Haile Selassie,allege that once the rebellion had been decisively defeated,he or his supporters felt safe in poisoning Zewditu.She was succeeded on the throne by Negus Tafari,who took the name Emperor Halie Selassie.