Abba Samuel Wolde Kahin (also spelled Walda Kahen;

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 ...

: አባ ሳሙኤል ወልደ ካህን) was the tutor and mentor of ''

Ras Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...

'' Tafari Makonnen (later Emperor

Haile Selassie I 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 ('' ...

) and his cousin, ''Ras''

Imru Haile Selassie Leul Ras Imru Haile Selassie, CBE (Amharic: ዕምሩ ኀይለ ሥላሴ; 23 November 1892 – 15 August 1980) was an Ethiopian noble, soldier, and diplomat. He served as acting Prime Minister for three days in 1960 during a coup d'état ...

, when the two were children living at

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 ...

, ca. 1902–1912. In Chapter 1 of his autobiography, ''My Life and Ethiopia's Progress'', Haile Selassie recalls how his father ''

Makonnen Woldemikael ''Ras'' Makonnen Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot ( Amharic: ራስ መኮንን ወልደ ሚካኤል ወልደ መለኮት; 8 May 1852 – 21 March 1906), or simply Ras Makonnen, also known as Abba Qagnew (አባ ቃኘው), was a Shewan roy ...

first arranged for Dr. Vitalien, a physician from

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

, to instruct the boys in French an hour or so a day. Not considering this sufficient, he also hired Abba Samuel, an Ethiopian at the French Capuchin Mission in Harar. Samuel's father, ''

Alaqa The title Aleqa ("Master", also transliterated Alaqa) is a honorific title used in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It is used as the title of a chief priest, the head of a monastery, as well as being an honorific for a highly educated mem ...

'' Wolde Kahin, had earlier converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. According to historian H.G. Marcus, this association had caused some suspicion among the nobles that ''Ras'' Tafari was leaning toward Catholicism himself, which suspicion he allayed by undergoing a rare second

Ethiopian Orthodox The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

rite of baptism in 1906. As remembered by the future Emperor in his autobiography,

Abba Samuel was a good man who possessed great knowledge, who applied himself to learning and to teaching, who in goodness and humility gathered knowledge like a bee from anyone, who was devoted to the love of God and of his neighbour, and who did not strive to find enjoyment of the flesh but of the soul. I am saying this because I had known him very well while we were together some ten years.Haile Selassie I, ''My Life and Ethiopia's Progress, Volume One: 1892-1937'' (Chicago: Frontline Press, 2003), p. 18

Later in Chapter 5 of his autobiography, the Emperor relates that Abba Samuel was one of the seven men who drowned in a boating accident on Lake Alemaya on 7 June 1915.

References

19th-century births 1915 deaths Capuchins Ethiopian academics {{Ethiopia-academic-bio-stub