Azezo (

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

: አዘዞ) is a town in northern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

south of the city of

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...

History

The town of Azezo was established around the same time Gondar was settled in the 16th century (between 1632-1687). Azezo was occupied by the Italians during the follow-up to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, establishing a military camp nearby the village between 1936 and 1941. After the defeat of the Italians by a joint British and Ethiopian force (the

Gideon Force Gideon Force was a small British and African special force, a with the Sudan Defence Force, Ethiopian regular forces and ( for Patriots). Gideon Force fought the Italian occupation in Ethiopia, during the East African Campaign of the Secon ...

), the camp remained operational. In the early 1990s, following the overthrow of the

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

, the camp was partially demobilized and Azezo's main source of income was diminished, with the ecological care of nearby rivers being halted as a result. Azezo today is a suburban market town that is mostly associated with its closest city, Gondar. Notable sites are the large soccer field situated in the center of the town as well as a few churches, such as Saint Teklehymanot. The residents of Azezo are predominantly non-Jewish, but historically the town has had a Jewish population. In the late 1800s, working with the Swedish Mission of the

Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY; also called Mekane Yesus Church) is a Lutheran denomination in Ethiopia. It is the largest individual member church of the Lutheran World Federation. It is a Lutheran denomination with some ...

(EECMY), the Ethiopian intellectual and former Mayor of Gondar

Gebru Desta Gebru Desta also known as Kantiba Gebru and Aleqa Gebru Desta (1855 – January 1950) was an Amhara intellectual, and former mayor of Gondar and Addis Abeba. Gebru was one of the few foreign educated Ethiopians during Menelik II’s reign, and ...

established a school in Azezo that worked to convert the Gondar Jewish community to Christianity.

References

Populated places in the Amhara Region Historic Jewish communities in Ethiopia Jewish Ethiopian history {{Amhara-geo-stub