Ethiopian Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin

"I crave for knowledge.
I envy tolerant, peaceful folks.
I am frightened by ignorance.
I loathe violence." The poet T.G.Medhin

ጥበብ ይናፍቀኛል
ተቻችሎ የሚኖር ህዝብ ያስቀናኛል
ድንቁርና ያስፈራኛል
ጦርነት ያስጠላኛል::

A Short Walk Through His Literary Park


The funeral of the prolific Ethiopian Writer, Poet, Playwright and Anthropologist Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin was conducted at the St. Trinity Cathedral Church.

Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin has written 40 plays in Amharic and seven in English, while he also published his collections of poems in one volume under the title 'Esat wey Abeba' (meaning 'Fire or Flower').

Five of Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin's works have been rendered into English, French and Russian.

Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin translated the great tragedies of William Shakespeare such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear with a competing flavour, while he also rendered the great comedies of Moliere such as Tartuffe and 'A Doctor in Spite of Himself'.

Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin obtained his LLB Degree from Blackstone University in Chicago, United States, and studied anthropology in Dakar University in Senegal. He also attended courses in Theatrical Arts in universities in France and Britain.

Laureate Tsegaye has served as Artistic Director of the Ethiopian National Theatre, Editor of the Oxford University Press in Addis Ababa, and permanent representative of the Ministry of Culture and Sports with a rank of Vice Minister.

Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin is also credited to found the Department of Theatrical Arts at the Addis Ababa University, where he also served as Instructor and department head. Laureate Tsegaye was also the founder of the Ethiopian Writers Association, and a member of the Afro-Asian Writers' Association.

Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin has won the Haileselassie I prize for Literature, as well as many other international awards.

Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin died at the age of 69 on February 24, 2006.

The funeral of Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin was conducted yesterday at the St. Trinity Cathedral Church in the presence of families, friends, and admirers.

Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin is survived by his six children.

(This edited article was copied from keyquestions.blogspot.com )