Mangasha Seyoum was a member of the imperial family of the Ethiopian Empire. In 1974, the monarchy was abolished by the Derg, a communist military junta.
Background
Mangasha was born on December 7, 1927, in Dengolat, a village in Enderta district, part of Tigray province of Ethiopia. He is the son of Ras Seyum Mangasha, the grandson of Ras Mangasha Yohannes, and the great grandson of Emperor Johannes IV. Yohannes IV was the only Emperor of the Tigrayan cadet branch of the Solomonic dynasty (being descended in female lines from Emperors Yohannes I and Eyasu I).
Emperor Menelik II of Shoa came to power after the Battle of Metemma when Yohannes IV was killed and the male line of the Solomonic Dynasty was re-established on the Imperial throne. Mangasha Seyum is the heir to the Tigrean royal line and a rival to the Shoan emperor.
Education
Mangasha Seyoum was educated locally.
Career
Mangasha was a Governor of Arusi from 2 to 1955, of Sidamo from 1955 to 1958 and then became Minister of Public Works from 1958 to 1961, where he was not considered to have been a great success. But after his father's death he took over as Governor of his home area and this released his latent energies; he started a museum, began microfilming Ethiopian manuscripts and took a personal interest in road building, tree planting and water supplies. Created Ras by Haile Selassie in 1966 and later Leul Ras, he is one of the few nobles honoured by this title, which stands second only to that of Emperor.
In October 1974, after the monarchy was toppled, representatives of the Derg ordered Seyum Mangasha to the capital to face charges of corruption, but instead he fled to the hills. There Mengesha Seyoum helped to found a group that eventually became the Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU). His wife, Princess Aida Desta, and his daughter were arrested by the Derg in 1974. Although his daughter would eventually escape abroad, his wife remained in prison for 14 years. The EDU was a conservative and pro-monarchy and is the oldest of the Ethiopian political parties.
The EDU later merged with the Ethiopian Democratic Party and formed the Ethiopian Democratic Unity Party (EDUP), which later was one of the parties that joined to form the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, one of the two largest opposition parties in Ethiopia. In 2000, the EDU reorganized in Addis Ababa as a legal opposition party after the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front led the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front to power. Leul Ras Mengesha has retreated from all involvement in the political affairs of this party and its successor organizations.
Although for a significant period during the 1970s and 1980s he was regarded as a possible candidate for the succession by many monarchists, in 1989 he accepted and recognized the proclamation of Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen as Emperor in Exile of Ethiopia under the name Amha Selassie. With the death of Emperor Amha Selassie, Leul Ras Mengesha is considered the elder member of the extended Imperial family, and at public events where members of the Imperial family appear, such as royal funerals, is given precedence over all male members of the family except Crown Prince Zera Yacob Amha Selassie.
Connections
In January 1949, Mangasha Seyum married one of Haile Selassie I's granddaughters, Princess Aida Desta. They are the parents of five sons Lij Michael Sehul, Lij Yohannes, Lij Stephanos, Lij Jalye, Lij Seyoum and a daughter Immabet Menen. Mengesha Seyum was also the father of the late Immabet Rebka from his first marriage to Abonesh Demisse cousin of Princess Atsede Asfaw who was also Mengesha Seyum's stepmother.
After his father was murdered during the unsuccessful 1960 coup against Emperor Haile Selassie, Mengesha Seyoum was elevated to the title of Leul Ras and became Prince and Governor of Tigray. He governed from his capital in Mek'ele and held this position until 1974 when the monarchy was abolished.
Leul Ras Mengesha Seyoum lives partly in Addis Ababa, and partly in the Washington D.C. area of the USA. His wife of more than 60 years, Princess Aida died on January 15, 2013 in Alexandria Virginia. He maintains a close relationship with his children, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He is regarded as the senior surviving nobleman of the Ethiopian Empire, and the senior Prince of a cadet branch of the Imperial dynasty.