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Biography of Mäkonnen EndalkacäwName: Mäkonnen EndalkacäwBirth Date: 1892 Death Date: February 27, 1963 Place of Birth: Shoa Nationality: Ethiopian Gender: Male Occupations: writer, public official Mäkonnen Endalkacäw Mäkonnen Endalkacäw (1892-1963) was an Ethiopian writer and public official. One of the few aristocrats to attain high government office under Haile Selassie, he was responsible for the renaissance of Amharic literature after World War II.Mäkonnen Endalkacäw was born into a family of feudal landowners in Shoa. He was educated at the court of Menelik II and was a close friend of the future emperor Haile Selassie I, one of whose nieces he married. After the appointment of Haile Selassie as regent, Mäkonnen occupied high office as minister of commerce (1926-1931), Ethiopian representative in England and at the League of Nations (1931-1933), governor of Addis Ababa (1933-1934), and governor of Illulabor Province (1935).When the Italian war broke out, Mäkonnen was put in command of the Ogaden front. During the period of Italian occupation, he stayed in Jerusalem, where he looked after …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…against the abuses and corruption of absolute power and a reminder that political might should be used in compliance with the laws of God and of the Church for the benefit of the people.Actually, Mäkonnen's outlook was fundamentally aristocratic. His somewhat utopian ideal--illustrated in the autobiographical works of his later years, such as Malkanu beta saboc (1956-1957; The Good Family)--was that of a hierarchized society led by a Christian feudal class deeply conscious of the responsibilities which material wealth and secular power have placed upon its shoulders.Mäkonnen retired from political office in 1961. He died on Feb. 27, 1963. Further Reading A brief biographical sketch of Mäkonnen appears in Christopher S. Clapham, Haile-Selassie's Government (1969). See also Margery Perham, The Government of Ethiopia (1948; rev. ed. 1969); Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People (1960; 2d ed. 1965); and Richard Greenfield, Ethiopia: A New Political History (1965). |