The Anglo-Ethiopian Society
Book Tour - King of Kings: The Triumph and Tragedy of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate
Wednesday 9th March 2016
14:00 to 16:00, Fellows Dining Room, St Antony's College, 62 Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6JF
Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate talks about his colourful new biography of the life of his great-uncle Emperor Haile Selassie. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Ethiopia and was educated at the German School. He fled the 1974 revolution to Europe to continue his studies at Magdalen College Cambridge and the University of Tübingen and finally received his PhD in history from the University of Frankfurt. He knew the emperor well and gained an intimate insight into life in his controversial court. Selassie was a descendant of King Solomon who fought with the Allies during the Second World War and became the messiah of the Rastafarians. He was a reformer and an autocrat and a forerunner of African independence.
Asfa-Wossen has lived in Germany since the 1970s. He is a corporate consultant and the author of the critically acclaimed German bestsellers Manieren (Manners) and Deutsche Tugenden (German Virtues). He is also the founder of Pactum Africanum a German charitable foundation that promotes understanding between the Abrahamic religions.
The event is part of the Horn of Africa Seminar Series run by the African Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. There will be a reception after the lecture.
The event is free to attend and no prior registration is required, all are welcome.