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Jan 23 , 2021

Pioneer Retailer, 'Bambis,' Makes Last Sale

When he was young, Panos Tewodros could sometimes be “hot-blooded.” Working as an import manager with Charalambos Tsimas, better known as Bambis, a contraction of his first name, for the supermark...

Jan 16 , 2021

Instinctually Humanitarian, Yohannes Kifle Breathes His Last

Bonfires are set, and children go house to house singing Hoya Hoyeduring the holiday of Buhe, which is observed annually in August by followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The song is o...

Dec 19 , 2020

Without Regrets, "Patriot" Fikreselassie Wogderes Passes

Fikreselassie Wogderess was 46 years old when he was thrown into jail after a coalition of rebel forces fought their way into Addis Abeba in 1991. The next two decades of his life would be anticlimact...

Dec 5 , 2020

James Wolfensohn, Debt Restructuring WB Chief, Departs

The first time James Wolfensohn started working in Africa, a continent that would virtually become his mission as one of the more famous presidents of the World Bank, it was not an easy assignment. It...

Nov 29 , 2020

Fighter with the Soul of an Artist, Yemane Kidane Passes

It did not take much more than to greet Yemane Kidane, aka "Jamaica," to have an idea of his disposition. Perennially upbeat, a glass half full kind of guy, he consistently replied back to everyone th...

Oct 31 , 2020

Goatskin Aficionado, Lemma Guya, Lays Down the Brush

One of Lemma Guya's paintings, "Quanta," features dried beef, four cats, spilt milk and a rat. Stripped of its context, it seems bizarre, almost meaningless; a day in the life of a chaotic group of ho...

Oct 17 , 2020

Polio Warrior, 'Father' of Many, Mohammad Idris, Passes, 85

Mohammed Idris came to feel like a father figure to many that met him. Most striking was his effect on the younger generation. Part of this was that he had come to be known to many young people throug...

Oct 11 , 2020

Influential 'Ethiopianist,' the Professor Passes, 91

Mesfin Woldemariam (Prof.) took poetic license. An 18-year-old who had read one of his poems found this out by accident. A freshman pre-med student at Addis Abeba University in 1982, he was classmates...

Oct 3 , 2020

Politically Active Spiritual Leader, Hanfare Alimirah, Passes

Sultan Hanfare Alimirah was not one to stand back when political issues arose. Just as in 1991, he was attentive and aware of the changes that were to lead to the new administration that brought Prime...

Aug 8 , 2020

Calm Under Fire, Teferi Asfaw Passes, 68

The former Relief & Rehabilitation Commission was an island of sanity in the sea of pandemonium that was Communist-era Ethiopia. Exemplifying this contrast was Teferi Asfaw, who found himself work...

Jul 13 , 2020

Active to the End, Politician, Business Person Passes, 85

The outing of the Dergue, a left-leaning military junta, in the 1990s was met with a certain level of optimism by some circles in Ethiopia. It included individuals whose assets had been nationalised b...

Jul 10 , 2020

'Woke' Musician Passes Young, 36

Early on Tuesday morning, youth from the surrounding parts of Addis Abeba entered the city, chanting and wielding sticks. They were angry, and by the time police were routing them back out, violence h...

May 23 , 2020

Business Person of the People, Kabir Hussien, Passes Away at 72

Ezekiel Gebissa (PhD), a political activist and professor of history at Kettering University, could not believe it when he first met Kabir Hussein seven years ago. He did not expect that the owner of...

Apr 25 , 2020

Daring, Hot-tempered Opposition Figure, 70, Passes Away

Ethiopia's parliamentary sessions have never been accused of being vibrant. But there have been exceptions. The few opposition figures sprinkled across an EPRDF-dominated parliament have had their mem...

Mar 28 , 2020

Doctor of Body, Spirit, Catherine Hamlin Passes

There has been a long-standing ritual for the women that come to be treated at the Addis Abeba Fistula Hospital, which was co-founded by Catherine Hamlin (MD), an Australian obstetrician and gynaecolo...

Mar 21 , 2020

Rebel who Loved to Help, Netsanet Asfaw, Gives Up the Fight

Atsede Tamene (Lt. Col.) was 12 when she first met her role model, Netsanet Asfaw. It was the early 1980s, the Derguewas in power, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) was an up and coming...


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