Makonnen Wolde Mikael

Ras Makonnen, August 1902

Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot was born at Derefo Maryam near Ankober, in what was then in the province of Menz[4][5] to his mother Woizero Tenagnework Sahle Selassie and his father Dejazmach Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot, who was the governor of the provinces Menz and Doba (which are located in Semien Shewa)[6][7] Ras Makonnen paternal descent is disputed between Amhara, Oromo or Tigray. His maternal lineage is ethnically Amhara with a Solomonic genealogy, his mother was a daughter of Sahle Selassie of Shewa.[8][9][10][11] At the age of 14 his father took him to the court of Negus Menelik, then ruler of Shewa, where he became a special companion of Menelik.[12]

In 1887, Makonnen was given the governorship of Harar after it was incorporated into the Ethiopian Empire by his cousin, Emperor Menelik following the Battle of Chelenqo. According to Jules Borelli, Harar was pillaged by Abyssinian soldiers with half its population fleeing, despite pleas from the despoiled locals to Makonnen.[13] The Harari people soon revolted which followed Makonnen storming the town with his troops razing and plundering residences as well as massacring the population.[14] According to Hararis, the oppression of Harari people began with the invasion of Harar by Ras Makonnen which followed mosques changed into churches and Abyssinian Christians arriving from the north to settle in the town.[15] Makonnen had ordered the primary mosque of Harar to be replaced by an Orthodox Church.[16] Immediately after obtaining governance of Harar, Makonnen set about undermining Harari wealth by expropriating their land and offering it to his soldiers.[17]

In 1896 Ras Makonnen appointed Abdullah Tahir, governor of Jigjiga.[18]

Other posts Ras Makonnen served included temporary governor of Tigray after the removal of the rebellious Ras Mangasha Yohannes, and as a general during various military campaigns during the First Italo–Ethiopian War, including a leading role at the Battle of Adwa where Ethiopian forces routed the Italians; and as a diplomat and de facto foreign minister.[19]

In the 1880s, as Shum[nb 2] of Harar, Ras Mäkonnen became a close friend of the French poet, Arthur Rimbaud, who was then living and doing business in that province.[19]

In 1902, Ras Mäkonnen attended the coronation of King Edward VII in London. He arrived in June to the ceremony originally scheduled for 26 June, and stayed in Europe while the King recovered from an operation, attending the rescheduled ceremony on 9 August. Between these dates, he paid visits to various parts of the United Kingdom, and visited Italy, France, Turkey, and Germany. He received the following decorations: Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) during an audience with King Edward VII on 8 August 1902,[20][21] Star of the Russian Order of St. Anne, Star of the French Legion d'Honneur (Third Republic), Star of the Order of the Crown of Italy, Star of the Ottoman Order of Osmania.[22]

In 1906, Dejazmach Yilma Makonnen succeeded Makonnen as Shum of Harar. Yilma Makonnen was his son from before his marriage to Wayzero Yeshimabet Ali. In 1907, Yilma Makonnen was in turn succeeded as Shum by his younger half-brother, Tafari Makonnen, the future Emperor Haile Selassie.

Around July 1873, Makonnen married Yeshimebet Ali, the daughter of Dejazmach Ali and Woizero[nb 3] Wolete Giyorgis. In 1875, Yilma Makonnen was born to Makonnen and a woman who was not Yeshimebet Ali. In 1892, Tafari Makonnen, the son of Makonnen and Yeshimebet Ali, was born. In 1901, following the death of Yeshimebet Ali, Makonnen was briefly married to a niece of Empress Taytu Betul, Woizero Mentewab Wale. Makonnen's marriage to Mentewab Wale was never consummated and, in 1902, it was annulled.

While travelling from Harar to Addis Ababa, Ras Makonnen came down with typhus. His officers brought him to Kulubi, where he died as daylight broke after having given his son Tafari Makonnen a whispered benediction.[23]