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Afevork Ghevre Jesus

May 03, 2024

This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by his given name, Afäwarq, and not as Iyäsus.

Afäwarq Gäbrä Iyäsus (Amharic: አፈወርቅ ገብረ ኢየሱስ, romanized: āfewerik’i gebire īyesusi; spelled in Italian: Afevork Ghevre Jesus or Āfeworq Gebre Īyesūs; spelled in English Afewark Gebre Iyasus; 10 July 1868 – 25 September 1947) was an Ethiopian writer, who wrote the first novel in Amharic, Ləbb Wälläd Tarik (A Heart [better “Intellect”]-born Story), (Italian: Libb Wolled Tarik). Bahru Zewde writes, "Few people before or after him have demonstrated such superb mastery of the Amharic language. Few have ventured with such ingenuity into the hidden recesses of that language to come out with a wealth of vocabulary and idiom one scarcely thought the language possessed.[1] Afäwarq is nonetheless a controversial figure for having supported the Italians during both the First and Second Italo-Ethiopian Wars.[2]

Afäwarq Gäbrä Iyäsus
Afäwarq in 1900
Native name
አፈወርቅ ገብረ ኢየሱስ
Born(1868-07-10)10 July 1868
Zege, Ethiopian Empire
Died(1947-09-25)25 September 1947
Jimma, Ethiopian Empire
OccupationNovelist

Biography edit

Of Amhara descent,[3] Afäwarq was born in Zegé on the southern shore of Lake Tana. He received a traditional education from the church of Ura Kidana Mehrat under the direction of his grandfather Manher Denqe, whom Bahru Zewde describes as "a noted scholar." He also practiced painting in the traditional Ethiopian style.[4]

Afäwarq was also related to the Empress Taytu Betul, and it apparently was through her that he was introduced to Emperor Menelik II's court sometime after 1880. It was there he came to the attention of the Italian diplomat Count Pietro Antonelli, who was impressed with his artistic abilities and enabled him to study in Italy. Afäwarq left for Italy in September 1887, and was admitted to the International Institute in Milan, where he attended classes in painting at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts. During his studies in Milan, he was called to be the official interpreter for the Ethiopian delegation headed by then Dejazmach Makonnen Wolde Mikael. Afäwarq later claimed that it was he who pointed out the infamous discrepancy between the Amharic and Italian versions of article XVII of the Treaty of Wuchale.[5]

He returned to Ethiopia, arriving in Addis Ababa on 11 July 1890, at a time when his Italian connections only made the Empress disfavor him. Afäwarq's relationship with Taytu only worsened, so he was relieved when he was asked in September 1894 to escort two men to Neuchatel in Switzerland where they had been enrolled at the International School. By this time Afäwarq had also married the daughter of Alfred Ilg. It was while in Switzerland that Afäwarq first sided with Italy over his homeland, crossing over to Italy with his two charges and putting all three at the service of the Italian authorities. The Italians quickly sent them to the war front; they arrived at Massawa 6 January 1896, but despite Italian plans and intentions nothing of consequence came of this misadventure, and the three men were at Asmara when the Italians were defeated at Adwa.[6]

Afäwarq returned to Italy, and the next 16 years, as Bahru Zewde states, witnessed "some of the most important literary and intellectual accomplishments of his career. These included work on Amharic grammar, an Italian-Amharic conversation manual, the satirical Guide du voyageur, and the novel Ləbb Wälläd Tarik. Ləbb Wälläd Tarik, about twin siblings Tobbya and Waḥəd and also simply known as Tobbya,[7] was published in Rome in 1908 under the name Afevork Ghevre Jesus and is widely considered the first novel in Amharic.[8] Afäwarq also worked with the Italian Ethiopicist Francesco Gallina at this time.[9]

In 1912, Afäwarq moved to Italian Eritrea where he established an import-export business. On the death of Emperor Menelik, he attempted to ingratiate himself with his successor, Emperor Iyasu V, by writing poems lauding the young man; when Iyasu was deposed in a coup four years later, writes Bahru Zewde, "With the amazing dexterity for volte-face that was to be the hallmark of his career and character, Afäwärq composed an equally condemnatory poem on Iyyasu."[10] This latter tactic apparently succeeded in reconciling him with the new authorities, for in 1917 or 1918 he was back in Addis Ababa. By 1922 he had become the Nagadras of Dire Dawa in 1922, then between 1925 and 1930 Afäwarq served as president of the special court that heard cases involving foreigners and Ethiopians. He was appointed charge d'affairs in Rome for the Ethiopian government, a position for which Bahru Zewde notes that due to "his known predilection for the Italians and his record of treason" he might not have made him the best candidate. Bahru however goes on to quote the American representative in Ethiopia, Addison E. Southard, who observed that Haile Selassie wanted "to get rid of Afäwarq locally who has the reputation for being an obstreperous and fire-eating old gentleman with potentialities for stirring ... trouble."[10] Regardless of his deeper allegiances, Afäwarq found himself in a difficult situation, being forced to rely on the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send his telegrams home.[11]

He returned to Ethiopia shortly before the beginning of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, but upon the Italian forces entering Addis Ababa, he acquiesced to their rule, christening 5 May 1936 as the beginning of the "Era of Mercy" for Ethiopia. Despite his loyalty to the Italian cause, in the backlash that followed the attempt on Graziani's life, he was arrested and deported to Italy. He was not allowed to return to Ethiopia until 1938, after which he served usefully enough to be made Afa Qesar ("Mouthpiece of the Caesar") 9 May 1939. However, upon Haile Selassie's return to Ethiopia, Afäwarq was arrested by the restored Ethiopian government, tried for treason, and sentenced to death—a sentence subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. He was exiled to Jimma where Afäwarq, by then blind, died on 25 September 1947.[11]

Works edit

  • ልብ ፡ ወለድ ፡ ታሪክ ። (Ləbb Wälläd Tarik) [A Heart-Born Story]. Rome 1908.[12]
  • ዳግማዊ ፡ ምኒልክ ፡ ንጉሠ ፡ ነገሥት ፡ ዘኢትዮጵያ ። (Dāgmāwī Minīlik Nigūse Negest ze-'Ītyōṗyā) [Menelek II, King of Kings of Ethiopia]. Rome 1909; second edition, Dire Dawa 1919.

Short stories edit

  • እውነት ተመዶሻው ነው (Iwnet Temedōšāw New). 1898[13]
  • አጤ ፋሲል (Āṭē Fāsīl).[14]

Linguistics edit

  • Manuale di conversazione italiano-amarico con la pronuncia figurata. Rome 1905.
  • Grammatica della lingua amarica. Metodo practico per l'insegnamento. Rome 1905.
  • Guide du voyageur en Abyssinie. Rome 1908.
  • Il verbo amarico. Rome 1911.

References edit

  1. ^ Bahru Zewde (2002). Pioneers of change in Ethiopia (1. publ. ed.). Oxford: J. Currey. p. 158f. ISBN 0852554524.
  2. ^ Richard Pankhurst in The Secret History of the Italian Fascist Occupation, 1935–1941, 9. Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa)
  3. ^ Abbay, Alemseged (1998). Identity Jilted, Or, Re-imagining Identity?: The Divergent Paths of the Eritrean and Tigrayan Nationalist Struggles. The Red Sea Press. p. 46. ISBN 9781569020722.
  4. ^ Bahru Zewde, Pioneers, p. 52
  5. ^ Bahru Zewde, Pioneers, pp. 52f
  6. ^ Bahru Zewde, Pioneers, pp. 53f
  7. ^ GERARD, ALBERT X. (1968). "Amharic Creative Literature: The Early Phase". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 6 (2): 39–59. ISSN 0304-2243. JSTOR 41960899.
  8. ^ Admassu, Yonas. 2003. "Afäwarq Gäbrä Iyäsus." In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C: Vol. 1, edited by Siegbert Uhlig, 122–124. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
  9. ^ Bahru Zewde, Pioneers, p. 54
  10. ^ a b Bahru Zewde, Pioneers, p. 55
  11. ^ a b Bahru Zewde, Pioneers, p. 56
  12. ^ For a summary and brief discussion of this 90 page work see Jack Fellman, "Ethiopia's First Novel", in: Research in African Literatures 22 (1991), pp. 183–184.
  13. ^ See Zerihun Asfaw, Libbwolled Āwāǧ innā Lēlōčč Āč̣āč̣č̣ir Tārīkōčč ke-qeddemt ye-Ītyōṗya derāsyān 1898–1949 ["Libbwolled Āwaǧ" and other short stories by early Ethiopian writers] (Addis Ababa: 2003), pp. 1–3.
  14. ^ See Zerihun Asfaw, Libbwolled Āwāǧ, pp. 4–5

Further reading edit

  • Bahru Zewde (1994), review article of Alain Rouaud 1991 (see below), in: The International Journal of African Historical Studies 27/1, pp. 224–226.
  • Luigi Fusella (1951), "Il Lebb wallad tarik", in: Rassegna di studi etiopici 10, pp. 56–70.
  • Luigi Fusella (1961–1963), "Il Dagmawi Menilek di Afawarq Gabra Iyasus", in: Rassegna di studi etiopici 17, pp. 11–44; 19, pp. 119–149.
  • Luigi Fusella (1984), "Le premier romancier Ethiopien", in: Luigi Fusella, Salvatore Tedeschi & Joseph Tubiana (eds.), Trois essais sur la littérature éthiopienne. Paris.
  • Alain Rouaud (1982), "Pour une bibliographie des oeuvres d'Afä Wärq Gäbrä Iyäsus", in: Bulletin des études africaines 2–3, pp. 123–136.
  • Alain Rouaud (1991), Afä-Wärq, un intellectuel éthiopien témoin de son temps 1868–1947. Paris. ISBN 2-222-04513-4.
  • Yonas Admassu (2003), "Afäwärq Gäbrä Iyäsus", in: Siegbert Uhlig et al. (eds.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, vol. 1 (A-C), pp. 122b-124a.

External links edit

  • Richard Pankhurst, Ethiopian Artists of Yester-year, Part 1: From AFAWARQ GABRE IYASUS to FERE SEYON in the Addis Tribune website.


May 03, 2024
afevork, ghevre, jesus, this, article, about, person, whose, name, includes, patronymic, article, properly, refers, person, given, name, afäwarq, iyäsus, afäwarq, gäbrä, iyäsus, amharic, አፈወርቅ, ገብረ, ኢየሱስ, romanized, āfewerik, gebire, īyesusi, spelled, italian,. This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic The article properly refers to the person by his given name Afawarq and not as Iyasus Afawarq Gabra Iyasus Amharic አፈወርቅ ገብረ ኢየሱስ romanized afewerik i gebire iyesusi spelled in Italian Afevork Ghevre Jesus or Afeworq Gebre iyesus spelled in English Afewark Gebre Iyasus 10 July 1868 25 September 1947 was an Ethiopian writer who wrote the first novel in Amharic Lebb Wallad Tarik A Heart better Intellect born Story Italian Libb Wolled Tarik Bahru Zewde writes Few people before or after him have demonstrated such superb mastery of the Amharic language Few have ventured with such ingenuity into the hidden recesses of that language to come out with a wealth of vocabulary and idiom one scarcely thought the language possessed 1 Afawarq is nonetheless a controversial figure for having supported the Italians during both the First and Second Italo Ethiopian Wars 2 Afawarq Gabra IyasusAfawarq in 1900Native nameአፈወርቅ ገብረ ኢየሱስBorn 1868 07 10 10 July 1868Zege Ethiopian EmpireDied 1947 09 25 25 September 1947Jimma Ethiopian EmpireOccupationNovelist Contents 1 Biography 2 Works 2 1 Short stories 2 2 Linguistics 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksBiography editOf Amhara descent 3 Afawarq was born in Zege on the southern shore of Lake Tana He received a traditional education from the church of Ura Kidana Mehrat under the direction of his grandfather Manher Denqe whom Bahru Zewde describes as a noted scholar He also practiced painting in the traditional Ethiopian style 4 Afawarq was also related to the Empress Taytu Betul and it apparently was through her that he was introduced to Emperor Menelik II s court sometime after 1880 It was there he came to the attention of the Italian diplomat Count Pietro Antonelli who was impressed with his artistic abilities and enabled him to study in Italy Afawarq left for Italy in September 1887 and was admitted to the International Institute in Milan where he attended classes in painting at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts During his studies in Milan he was called to be the official interpreter for the Ethiopian delegation headed by then Dejazmach Makonnen Wolde Mikael Afawarq later claimed that it was he who pointed out the infamous discrepancy between the Amharic and Italian versions of article XVII of the Treaty of Wuchale 5 He returned to Ethiopia arriving in Addis Ababa on 11 July 1890 at a time when his Italian connections only made the Empress disfavor him Afawarq s relationship with Taytu only worsened so he was relieved when he was asked in September 1894 to escort two men to Neuchatel in Switzerland where they had been enrolled at the International School By this time Afawarq had also married the daughter of Alfred Ilg It was while in Switzerland that Afawarq first sided with Italy over his homeland crossing over to Italy with his two charges and putting all three at the service of the Italian authorities The Italians quickly sent them to the war front they arrived at Massawa 6 January 1896 but despite Italian plans and intentions nothing of consequence came of this misadventure and the three men were at Asmara when the Italians were defeated at Adwa 6 Afawarq returned to Italy and the next 16 years as Bahru Zewde states witnessed some of the most important literary and intellectual accomplishments of his career These included work on Amharic grammar an Italian Amharic conversation manual the satirical Guide du voyageur and the novel Lebb Wallad Tarik Lebb Wallad Tarik about twin siblings Tobbya and Waḥed and also simply known as Tobbya 7 was published in Rome in 1908 under the name Afevork Ghevre Jesus and is widely considered the first novel in Amharic 8 Afawarq also worked with the Italian Ethiopicist Francesco Gallina at this time 9 In 1912 Afawarq moved to Italian Eritrea where he established an import export business On the death of Emperor Menelik he attempted to ingratiate himself with his successor Emperor Iyasu V by writing poems lauding the young man when Iyasu was deposed in a coup four years later writes Bahru Zewde With the amazing dexterity for volte face that was to be the hallmark of his career and character Afawarq composed an equally condemnatory poem on Iyyasu 10 This latter tactic apparently succeeded in reconciling him with the new authorities for in 1917 or 1918 he was back in Addis Ababa By 1922 he had become the Nagadras of Dire Dawa in 1922 then between 1925 and 1930 Afawarq served as president of the special court that heard cases involving foreigners and Ethiopians He was appointed charge d affairs in Rome for the Ethiopian government a position for which Bahru Zewde notes that due to his known predilection for the Italians and his record of treason he might not have made him the best candidate Bahru however goes on to quote the American representative in Ethiopia Addison E Southard who observed that Haile Selassie wanted to get rid of Afawarq locally who has the reputation for being an obstreperous and fire eating old gentleman with potentialities for stirring trouble 10 Regardless of his deeper allegiances Afawarq found himself in a difficult situation being forced to rely on the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send his telegrams home 11 He returned to Ethiopia shortly before the beginning of the Second Italo Ethiopian War but upon the Italian forces entering Addis Ababa he acquiesced to their rule christening 5 May 1936 as the beginning of the Era of Mercy for Ethiopia Despite his loyalty to the Italian cause in the backlash that followed the attempt on Graziani s life he was arrested and deported to Italy He was not allowed to return to Ethiopia until 1938 after which he served usefully enough to be made Afa Qesar Mouthpiece of the Caesar 9 May 1939 However upon Haile Selassie s return to Ethiopia Afawarq was arrested by the restored Ethiopian government tried for treason and sentenced to death a sentence subsequently commuted to life imprisonment He was exiled to Jimma where Afawarq by then blind died on 25 September 1947 11 Works editልብ ወለድ ታሪክ Lebb Wallad Tarik A Heart Born Story Rome 1908 12 ዳግማዊ ምኒልክ ንጉሠ ነገሥት ዘኢትዮጵያ Dagmawi Minilik Niguse Negest ze ityōṗya Menelek II King of Kings of Ethiopia Rome 1909 second edition Dire Dawa 1919 Short stories edit እውነት ተመዶሻው ነው Iwnet Temedōsaw New 1898 13 አጤ ፋሲል Aṭe Fasil 14 Linguistics edit Manuale di conversazione italiano amarico con la pronuncia figurata Rome 1905 Grammatica della lingua amarica Metodo practico per l insegnamento Rome 1905 Guide du voyageur en Abyssinie Rome 1908 Il verbo amarico Rome 1911 References edit Bahru Zewde 2002 Pioneers of change in Ethiopia 1 publ ed Oxford J Currey p 158f ISBN 0852554524 Richard Pankhurst Graziani The Aftermath in The Secret History of the Italian Fascist Occupation 1935 1941 9 Addis Tribune Addis Ababa Abbay Alemseged 1998 Identity Jilted Or Re imagining Identity The Divergent Paths of the Eritrean and Tigrayan Nationalist Struggles The Red Sea Press p 46 ISBN 9781569020722 Bahru Zewde Pioneers p 52 Bahru Zewde Pioneers pp 52f Bahru Zewde Pioneers pp 53f GERARD ALBERT X 1968 Amharic Creative Literature The Early Phase Journal of Ethiopian Studies 6 2 39 59 ISSN 0304 2243 JSTOR 41960899 Admassu Yonas 2003 Afawarq Gabra Iyasus In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica A C Vol 1 edited by Siegbert Uhlig 122 124 Wiesbaden Harrassowitz Verlag Bahru Zewde Pioneers p 54 a b Bahru Zewde Pioneers p 55 a b Bahru Zewde Pioneers p 56 For a summary and brief discussion of this 90 page work see Jack Fellman Ethiopia s First Novel in Research in African Literatures 22 1991 pp 183 184 See Zerihun Asfaw Libbwolled Awaǧ inna Lelōcc Ac ac c ir Tarikōcc ke qeddemt ye ityōṗya derasyan 1898 1949 Libbwolled Awaǧ and other short stories by early Ethiopian writers Addis Ababa 2003 pp 1 3 See Zerihun Asfaw Libbwolled Awaǧ pp 4 5Further reading editBahru Zewde 1994 review article of Alain Rouaud 1991 see below in The International Journal of African Historical Studies 27 1 pp 224 226 Luigi Fusella 1951 Il Lebb wallad tarik in Rassegna di studi etiopici 10 pp 56 70 Luigi Fusella 1961 1963 Il Dagmawi Menilek di Afawarq Gabra Iyasus in Rassegna di studi etiopici 17 pp 11 44 19 pp 119 149 Luigi Fusella 1984 Le premier romancier Ethiopien in Luigi Fusella Salvatore Tedeschi amp Joseph Tubiana eds Trois essais sur la litterature ethiopienne Paris Alain Rouaud 1982 Pour une bibliographie des oeuvres d Afa Warq Gabra Iyasus in Bulletin des etudes africaines 2 3 pp 123 136 Alain Rouaud 1991 Afa Warq un intellectuel ethiopien temoin de son temps 1868 1947 Paris ISBN 2 222 04513 4 Yonas Admassu 2003 Afawarq Gabra Iyasus in Siegbert Uhlig et al eds Encyclopaedia Aethiopica Wiesbaden Otto Harrassowitz vol 1 A C pp 122b 124a External links editRichard Pankhurst Ethiopian Artists of Yester year Part 1 From AFAWARQ GABRE IYASUS to FERE SEYON in the Addis Tribune website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Afevork Ghevre Jesus amp oldid 1210332130, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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