Ambaye (also styled as Embaye or Ambai) Wolde Mariam (October 15, 1906 – May 16, 1954), best known as Dr. Ambaye, was an important politician under Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

. He was the political and legal advisor to the Duke of

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

in 1935, Vice Minister of Justice in 1942, Vice Foreign Minister in 1946, Minister of Justice in 1947 and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office (without a portfolio) in 1952. He was

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

(acting) in 1953 until shortly before his death.

Life

Ambaye was born in

Keren Keren may refer to: Places Inhabited places * Keren, Eritrea, a city in Eritrea, formerly called Cheren * Keren Subregion, Anseba region, Eritrea Other places * House of Keren, a historical house in Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, Russia * Keren, a cr ...

in 1906. At an early age, he joined the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

seminary where his grandfather had taken shelter when he moved to Keren. Due to his outstanding academic achievement at seminary, he was selected to attend the Pontifical Ethiopian College. He later studied law at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, France. In the late 1920s and early 1930s Crown Prince

toured Europe and made diplomatic contacts with European governments. While touring he also wisely expanded his network by meeting educated Eritreans and Ethiopians. During one of these trips, Crown Prince Haile Selassie had a prudent meeting at the Vatican with Ambaye, who was ready to be ordained as a

priest. At a crucial moment in Ethiopia's history, the Crown Prince noticed Ambaye's potential and recruited him to help build a modern government. Realizing the opportunity to struggle for the liberation of Eritrea from Italian colonialism, Ambaye joined the Imperial Government of Ethiopia. The Emperor awarded him a scholarship for further higher education at the

Law School. In 1935, during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, Dr. Ambaye joined the Emperor into exile, first to

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

and then to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

via

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

. On behalf of the exiled Ethiopian government, he participated in anti-fascist political activities. He represented the Emperor, acting as both a decision maker and political activist in the Middle East. His expertise spanned across contacts in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

; in 1936, he served for one year as the emperor's unofficial diplomatic emissary to the Imperial Government of

. After the defeat of the fascists, he returned to Ethiopia. He participated in modernizing the judicial system of Ethiopia. He worked closely with Blatengeta

Lorenzo Taezaz Lorenzo Taezaz (30 June 1900 – 23 June 1947) was an important diplomatic official for Ethiopia. He served as Emperor Haile Selassie's diplomatic representative during the Emperor's exile in Britain following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, being t ...

(his schoolmate and mentor from the days at the Catholic seminary, in Keren) in international judicial matters. He was a signatory for the establishment of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Holland. In 1946, he was assigned to present Ethiopia's claim to try fascist war criminals (Badoglio, Graziani etc..), to the

UN War Crimes Commission The United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) initially called the United Nations Commission for the Investigation of War Crimes, was a commission of the United Nations that investigated allegations of war crimes committed by Nazi Germany and ...

. He was a member of the Anglo-Ethiopian Boundary Commission in 1947. In 1945 Dr. Ambaye Wolde Mariam, Ato

Aklilu Habte-Wold '' Tsehafi Taezaz'' Aklilu Habte-Wold ( am, አክሊሉ ሀብተ ወልድ; 12 March 1912 – 23 November 1974) was an Ethiopian politician under Emperor Haile Selassie. He was foreign minister of Ethiopia from 1947 to 1958 and Prime Minister f ...

and Blatta Ephrem Tewoldemedhen represented Ethiopia as delegates and signatories on various committees for the establishment of the United Nations. UN Photo of Dr Ambaye (Ambai Wold-Mariam) signing the UN Charter in 1945. Dr. Ambaye had many disagreements with the powerful Imperial Palace Authorities, of the time. One of the major disagreements was over the prospect of the division of Eritrea (Bevin-Sforza Plan). The British and the Palace Authorities entertained to divide Eritrea between Sudan (the lowlands) and Ethiopia (the highlands). Dr. Ambaye, whose family origin embraces the highlands (mother side: Meraguz, Serae,) and the lowlands (father side: Hamelmalo, Anseba) of Eritrea, was adamantly opposed to the idea of splitting the nation of Eritrea. He was very proud of his cultural patrimony. He attempted to resign from the government several times over this issue. It was his friend and next door neighbor, Ato Aklilu Habte-Wolde that persuaded him to stay the course In the early fifties, Dr. Ambaye started getting ill. In 1953 when he was an Acting Foreign Minister, he suddenly became gravely ill. He died at the age of 46. The Imperial government had earlier sent him to Sweden for medical treatment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambaye Wolde Mariam 1906 births 1954 deaths Foreign ministers of Ethiopia Eritrean politicians Eritrean Roman Catholics People from Keren, Eritrea