The Biography of Empress Menen Asfaw

by Anjahli Parnell

Over the years little has been written about the remarkable life of Empress Menen Asfaw (April 3, 1891-February 15, 1962), who was the wife of the last reigning Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Sellassie I. With this first time translation and publication of her biography, readers can become reacquainted with the life of Empress Menen and the great contribution she made to her faith, her nation and her family. The foundation for this biography is a rare book entitled, "Her Imperial Majesty Menen Asfaw" which was written shortly after her passing in 1962. The original book has been translated from the ancient Ge'ez language of Ethiopia to Amharic and then to English. To make this a true reflection of Menen's life, much has been added to the original manuscript including information about the history, culture and geography of Ethiopia, highlights of Emperor Haile Sellassie's reign, and periods in her life that were not well documented before have been expanded upon. There is also a brief description of the legendary story of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, as well as the Rastafari faith as many women across the globe view Empress Menen as an exemplary role model. There are sixty-two photographs, many not widely seen before, of the Empress and her family. The citizens of her nation knew Empress Menen for her kindness and humanitarian outreach. She established childcare centers and handicraft schools, as well as the Empress Menen School for Girls, the first of its kind to offer education to young women of Ethiopia. During the Italian Invasion of 1936-1941, she assumed the administrative responsibility of Ethiopia while the Emperor was on the battlefield. A woman of great faith, she was a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church and constructed and upgraded many churches throughout her country. She visited the Holy Land four times and built a church and monastery on the banks of the Jordan River. During her life she also experienced a great deal of sorrow and hardship, enduring the loss of seven of her ten children, five years as a refugee of war in exile, plus the everyday struggle of on-going health problems. Empress Menen Asfaw, the Mother of the Ethiopian Nation, was a far-sighted woman well ahead of her time.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Sincerae Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm very disappointed that I didn't like this book. I had very high expectations for it, but it just comes off as dead in the water except for a few touching sections, mainly the chapter about the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the exile of the imperial family of Ethiopia and the suffering and martyrdom of some of their family members and of the country's monastics.

Empress Menen Asfaw (1891-1962) was the wife of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (Sellassie) I (1892-1975); he was her third husband. This book is a translation of an older book published in Ethiopia celebrating the empress' 67th birthday with additional passages added by Anjhali Parnell.

I read the Kindle version and only finished 59% of it up to the point of her death. It is rare that I don't complete a book. I just got tired of this one and wanted to move on. The remainder of the volume contains reprints of funeral tributes to Empress Menen and other information. Most of the book is just inundated with dates, events of births, deaths, and the empress' travels which turns it into very dry reading in the nature of a chronology. The reader is told about Empress Menen's generosity and her patronage in the establishment of schools, hospitals, homes of orphans, churches, convents, monasteries, but there is little to no emotion here even when there is tragedy. How Empress Menen felt or what she went through is at best speculated on.

The book is also disjointed at times and very repetitious. The author would have done better if she had just written a completely new biography in her own words and conducted her own research instead of acquiring an older book of apparently very emotionless and repetitive language and then injecting her own words and information into it.

Hopefully in the future a more in depth and spirited biography about the life of Empress Menen Asfaw will be written where she is not a cardboard or shadow personage.

[Anjahli Parnell]

This is a great read if you love Africa, African History, Rastafari, Great Women in History. Empress Menen was married to the last reigning Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Sellassie I. She did so much with her life to help the citizens of her country, such as opening the first school for women and girl, The Empress Menen School, childcare centers, building churches, touring the country to find out the needs of her people. I edited and compiled this book and I love to read it again and again.
http://www.roots-publishing.com/

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like it so far - it is full of unexpected poetic moments and shows the beauty and significance in insignificance.