Editing Haile Selassie (section)

==Early life==

{{main|Chronology of Haile Selassie}}

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File:Tafari Makonnen dressed in warrior garments.jpg|Then Tafari Makonnen wearing a warrior's dress
File:Lij Teferi and his father, Ras Makonnen.jpg|Ras [[Makonnen Woldemikael]] and his son Lij Tafari Makonnen
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Tafari's royal line (through his paternal grandmother) descended from the Shewan [[Amhara people|Amhara]] Solomonic king, [[Sahle Selassie]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pétridès|first1=S. Pierre|title=Le Héros d'Adoua: Ras Makonnen, Prince d'Éthiopie|date=1963|publisher=Librairie Plon|location=Paris|page=299}}</ref> He was born on 23 July 1892, in the village of [[Ejersa Goro]], in the [[Hararghe]] province of Ethiopia. Tafari's mother, [[Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Woyzero|Woizero]] ("Lady") [[Yeshimebet Ali]] Abba Jifar, was paternally of [[Oromo people|Oromo]] descent and maternally of [[Silt'e people|Silte]] heritage, while his father, [[Ras (title)|Ras]] [[Makonnen Wolde Mikael]], was maternally of [[Amhara people|Amhara]] descent but his paternal lineage remains disputed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bridgette|first=Kasuka|date=2012|title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k2nxqV2R7_8C&dq=kasuka+prominent+african+leaders&pg=PA19|location=Tanzania|publisher=New Africa Press|page=19|isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Henze|first=Paul B|date=2001|title=Layers of time a history of Ethiopia|location=New York|publisher=Palgrave|page=189}}</ref><ref name="Woodward">Woodward, Peter (1994), ''Conflict and Peace in the Horn of Africa: federalism and its alternatives''. Dartmouth Pub. Co. {{ISBN|1-85521-486-5}}, p. 29.</ref> Tafari's paternal grandfather belonged to a noble family from [[Shewa]] and was the governor of the districts of [[Menz]] and [[Doba Ethiopia|Doba]], which are located in [[North Shewa Zone (Amhara)|Semien Shewa]].<ref name="Pétridès-28">S. Pierre Pétridès, ''Le Héros d'Adoua. Ras Makonnen, Prince d'Éthiopie'', {{p.|28}}</ref> Tafari's mother was the daughter of a ruling chief from [[Were Ilu (woreda)|Were Ilu]] in [[Wollo]] province, [[Dejazmach]] Ali Abba Jifar.<ref name="Moor">de Moor, Jaap, and Wesseling, H. L. (1989), ''Imperialism and War: Essays on Colonial Wars in Asia and Africa''. Brill. {{ISBN|90-04-08834-2}}, p. 189.</ref> Ras Makonnen was the grandson of King [[Sahle Selassie]] who was once the ruler of [[Shewa]]. He served as a general in the [[First Italo–Ethiopian War]], playing a key role at the [[Battle of Adwa]];<ref name="Moor" /> Selassie was thus able to ascend to the imperial throne through his paternal grandmother, Woizero Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, who was an aunt of Emperor [[Menelik II]] and daughter of the Solomonic Amhara King of Shewa, [[Negus]] Sahle Selassie. As such, Selassie claimed direct descent from [[Makeda]], the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of ancient Israel.{{Sfn|Shinn|p=265}}

Ras Makonnen arranged for Tafari as well as his first cousin, [[Imru Haile Selassie]], to receive instruction in Harar from [[Abba Samuel Wolde Kahin]], an Ethiopian [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|Capuchin]] friar, and from Dr. Vitalien, a surgeon from [[Guadeloupe]]. Tafari was named [[Dejazmach]] (literally "commander of the gate", roughly equivalent to "[[count]]"){{Sfn | Haile Selassie 1999 | loc = vol. 2, p. xii}} at the age of 13, on 1 November 1905.<ref name="so193">{{Harvnb |Shinn | pp = 193–4}}.</ref><ref name="Autobiography Vol. I (Hardcover) p.20" /> Shortly thereafter, his father Makonnen died at [[Kulibi]], in 1906.<ref name="rad712">{{Harvnb |Roberts | p = 712}}.</ref>

===Governorship===

<!--NOTE: Several sources state that Tafari assumed Harar's governorship in 1906, but this is incorrect and contradicted by better and more numerous sources.-->
[[File:Tafari Dejazmatch Harrar.jpg|thumb|left|''Dejazmatch'' Tafari, as governor of Harar|236x236px]]

Tafari assumed the titular governorship of Selale in 1906, a realm of marginal importance,<ref name="jah">{{Harvnb |White | pp = 34–35}}.</ref> but one that enabled him to continue his studies.<ref name="so193" /> In 1907, he was appointed governor over part of the province of [[Sidamo Province|Sidamo]]. It is alleged that during his late teens, Selassie was married to ''Woizero'' Altayech, and that from this union, his daughter [[Princess Romanework]] was born.<ref name="m387" />

Following the death of his brother Yelma in 1907, the governorate of Harar was left vacant,<ref name="jah" /> and its administration was left to Menelik's loyal general, ''Dejazmach'' [[Balcha Safo]]. Balcha Safo's administration of Harar was ineffective, and so during the last illness of Menelik II, and the brief reign of Empress [[Taytu Betul]], Tafari was made governor of Harar in 1910 or 1911.<ref name="rad712" /><ref name="m387">Mockler, Anthony, ''Haile Selassie's War'' (2003), p. xxvii</ref>

=== Marriage ===
[[File:HIM Selassie with his Wife Empress Menen Asfaw.jpg|thumb|200x200px|Together with his wife, [[Menen Asfaw|Empress Menen Asfaw]], 1955]]

On 3 August 1911, Tafari married [[Menen Asfaw]] of [[Ambassel]], niece of the heir to the throne [[Lij Iyasu]]. Menen Asfaw was 22 years old while Tafari was 19 years of age. Menen had already married two previous noblemen, while Tafari had one previous wife and one child. The marriage between Menen Asfaw and Selassie lasted for 50 years. Although possibly a political match designed to create peace between Ethiopian nobles, the couple's family had said they married with mutual consent. Selassie described his spouse as a "woman without any malice whatsoever".<ref>Haile Selassie, ''My Life and Ethiopia's Progress'' (Chicago: Frontline Distribution International, 1999), pp. 41f.</ref>