Princess Ijigayehu Amha Selassie

Princess (Leult) Ijigayehu Amha Selassie (4 September 1936 – 23 January 1976) was the eldest child of Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen of Ethiopia by his first wife, Princess Wolete Israel Seyoum and was the granddaughter to Emperor Haile Selassie.

Princess Ijigayehu Amha Selassie
Born(1936-09-04)4 September 1936
Dessie, Wollo, Ethiopian Empire
Died23 January 1976(1976-01-23) (aged 39)
Akaki Prison, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Burial
Ketchene Medhan Alem Church
SpouseDejazmatch Fikre-Selassie Hapte Mariam
IssuePrince Samson Fikre Selassie
Princess Rahel Fikre Selassie
Princess Meheret Fikre Selassie
Princess Aster Fikre Selassie
Princes Bekere Fikre Selassie
Prince Yishaq Fikre Selassie
HouseSolomonic dynasty
FatherAmha Selassie
MotherWolete Israel Seyoum
ReligionEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo

Lineage and marriage

Through her mother's family she was a great-great granddaughter of Emperor Yohannes IV. Princess Ijigayehu was married to Dejazmach Fikre Selassie Habte-Mariam,[1] the heir to the old Welega Kingdom of Leqa Naqamte, and brother to Woizero Atsede Habte-Mariam (wife of General Mulugeta Bulli) and Princess Mahisente Habte Mariam (wife of Prince Sahle Selassie). Dejazmach Fikre Selassie and Princess Ijigayehu were the parents of six children (all created Princes and Princesses by their grandfather Emperor Amha Selassie while in exile):

  • Prince Samson Fikre Selassie (born 10 October 1954).
  • Princess Rahel Fikre Selassie (born 19 December 1957).
  • Princess Meheret Fikre Selassie (born 19 December 1959).
  • Princess Aster Fikre Selassie (born 30 April 1960).
  • Prince Bekere Fikre Selassie (born 1962).
  • Prince Yishaq Fikre Selassie (born 1964).

Princess Ijigayehu notably accompanied her grandfather Emperor Haile Selassie on his state visit to Italy and also on his state visits to South Korea, Australia, and Malaysia.

Derg Uprising

Princess Ijigayehu was imprisoned with the rest of the Imperial family on September 11, 1974, the day before Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by the Derg. She died in early 1976 after medical neglect while still in prison.[2] She was buried at the Ketchene Medhan Alem Church in Addis Ababa by her children and her mother who were under surveillance but not imprisoned. Early the following year, all her children, along with other children of the Imperial family, escaped from Ethiopia. Her husband remained imprisoned for 8 years and died in August 1996.

Honours

National

  • Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Queen of Sheba
  • Refugee Medal (1944)
  • Jubilee Medal (1955)
  • Emperor Haile Selassie I Jubilee Medal (1966)

Foreign

Ancestry

References

  1. "Modern Ethiopian Monarchs Part Eight". www.harep.org. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  2. "Amha Selassie I – Emperor-in-Exile". www.angelfire.com. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
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