Hirut Kassaw (, born 5 February 1976) is an

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

politician who has served as Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ethiopia from October 2018 until 6 October 2021. Before being Minister, Hirut served as

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

Bahir Dar University Bahir Dar University ( am, ባሕር ዳር ዩኒቨርስቲ) is a university in the city of Bahir Dar, the capital of the Amhara Region in Ethiopia. The University is a combination of two smaller institutes formed earlier, after the department ...

. The ministry that she leads has received an award from the Pacific Travel Writers Association (PATWA). She also won the "Best Tourism Minister" award.

Early life

Hirut was born and raised in Kefoy, South Gondar, Ethiopia. She was born in the countryside, but as a child she had the opportunity to move to the city because her father was a civil servant. She completed her primary and secondary education in

Debre Tabor Debre Tabor ( am, ደብረ ታቦር, lit. "Mount Tabor") is a town and woreda in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, about 100 kilometers southeast of Gondar and 50 kilometers east of Lake Tana, ...

. After graduating from

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, she served as a teacher in different parts of Ethiopia, and when she was teaching in

Sebeta Sabata ( Oromo: ''Sabbataa'') is a town in the Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Addis Ababa of the Oromia Region in Ethiopia. The Sabataa School for the Blind is located in Sabata. It became part of the Haile Selassie I Foundation in 1959, and ...

she joined the Kotebe Teachers Education College,

Addis Abeba Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, and earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Ethiopian Language and Literature. She also has a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from Bahir Dar University and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

from

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (AAU) ( am, አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, ...

Career

Hirut began teaching at Tulubolo High School in the southwestern Shoa Zone. She served as a teacher for 25 years in different parts of Ethiopia,

Woliso Waliso ( om, Walisoo) is a town in Southwest Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region in Ethiopia, 114 km southwest of Addis Ababa, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 2063 meters above sea level. Waliso is the administrative cent ...

Injibara Injibara ( Amharic: እንጅባራ) is a town in Ethiopia. It is the administrative center of the Agew Awi Zone in the Amhara Region. Injibara is located at , in Banja Shekudad woreda at an elevation of above sea level. Injibara is situated in ...

, and

. As she completed her

at Bahir Dar University, she became a teacher of

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 ...

language. After serving for four years, she left Bahir Dar University, and joined Addis Ababa University to follow her Doctor of Philosophy. Hirut was serving as head of the Amhara National Regional State Culture and Tourism Bureau before being nominated to the Ministry that she has led since October 2018.

Awards

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, that she leads, was awarded by the Pacific Travel Writers Association (PATWA) at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 2020. She was also awarded as "2019 Best Tourism Minister" which is from Street of Gold Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirut, Kassaw 1974 births Ministers of Culture and Tourism (Ethiopia) Living people People from Amhara Region Addis Ababa University alumni Women government ministers of Ethiopia 21st-century Ethiopian politicians 21st-century Ethiopian women politicians