Princess Ijigayehu Amha Selassie

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.

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.