Back Haile Selassie Afrikaans ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ Amharic Haile Selassie AN Haile Selassie ANG هيلا سيلاسي Arabic هيلا سيلاسى ARZ Haile Selassie AST Hayle Selassi Azerbaijani هایله سلاسی AZB Haile Selasėjė I BAT-SMG
| Haile Selassie I | |
|---|---|
| His Imperial Majesty
Negusa Nagast Defender of the Faith | |
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| Reign | April 2, 1930 - September 12, 1974 |
| Imperial | April 2, 1930 |
| Born | 23 July 1892 Harar, Ethiopia |
| Died | Addis Ababa |
| Spouse | Menen Asfaw |
| Issue | Princess Romanework
Princess Tenagnework Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen Princess Zenebework Princess Tsehai Prince Makonnen Prince Sahle Selassie |
| House | Solomonic House |
| Father | Makonnen Wolde Mikael |
| Mother | Yeshimebet Ali |
| Religion | Ethiopian Orthodox Church |
Haile Selassie I ( born Tafari Makonnen July 23, 1892 - August 27, 1975[1]) was the Emperor of Ethiopia from April 2, 1930 to September 12, 1974. He was Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930, when he was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia as one of the Solomonid dynasty. He fought against Italy, shortly before World War II. He was one of the founding fathers of the League of Nations and the United Nations and the 8th person to be recognized the Time Person of the Year.
Tafari was made into local governor of Sidamo in 1907 and Harar in 1911. In Harar, he had a huge following, but he agreed not to remove Lij Iyasu from power as regent in exchange for Iyasu not removing him as governor of Harer. However, Iyasu became a Muslim and broke his agreement by trying to remove Tafari as governor. Tafari said that he now did have to keep the agreement and so he removed Iyasu as regent.
Because Iyasu was a Muslim, the nobles replaced him with Empress Zauditu on September 27, 1916 and made Tafari regent. From to then on, Tafari controlled Ethiopia. He was made negus (king) in 1928 and was crowned "Haile Selassie I, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Lord of Lords, Elect of God" on November 2, 1930. His coronation was given widespread publicity throughout the world, especially in two TIME Magazine articles. The publicity created interest on the faraway island of Jamaica, where a belief in his divinity (Godliness) soon arose because of his titles, and he was seen as a symbol of black liberation.
In 1936, he left Ethiopia after an invasion by Benito Mussolini's Italy. The Emperor gave a speech at the League of Nations that asked the world to stop the Italians, but it failed to act. With the help of the British in World War II, he returned to Ethiopia in 1941. In 1963, the Emperor did everything he could to help start the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), with its headquarters in Addis Ababa. In 1966, he visited Jamaica, where he met the Rastafarian community of Jamaica.
On September 12, 1974, he was overthrown by a Marxist coup. He was said to have died of natural causes in August 1975, but evidence later showed that he had been murdered. However, many Rastafarians claim that he is still alive.