Mulatu Teshome Wirtu ( om, Mulaatuu Tashoome Wirtuu; ; born 1957) 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 was the

president of Ethiopia The President of Ethiopia is the head of state of Ethiopia. The position is largely ceremonial with executive power vested in the Council of Ministers chaired by The Prime Minister. The current president is Sahle-Work Zewde, who took office on 2 ...

from 2013 to 2018.

Biography

Mulatu was born in the town of Arjo in

Welega Province Welega (also spelled Wollega; ; am, ወለጋ) was a province in western Ethiopia, with its capital city at Nekemte. It was named for the Wollega Oromo, who are the majority of the population within its boundaries. Welega was bordered on the ...

. He was educated in China, receiving his bachelor's degree in philosophy of

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

and doctorate in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

. He received his Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in 1990. He taught at some "foreign universities and institutions", according to Speaker

Abadula Gemeda Abadula Gemeda ( om, Abbaa Duulaa Gammadaa; am, አባዱላ ገመዳ; born 5 July 1958) is an Ethiopian politician who became the former Speaker of the House of Peoples' Representatives, the lower chamber of the Ethiopian Parliament, from 20 ...

. In the mid-1990s he was Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Cooperation under Minister Girma Birru, and he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture in 2001. He was also Speaker of the

House of Federation The House of Federation () is the upper house of the bicameral Federal Parliamentary Assembly, the parliament of Ethiopia. It has 112 members. Each Nation, Nationality and People shall be represented in the House of the Federation by at least o ...

from 2002 to 2005. He served as Ethiopia's Ambassador to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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 ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. While serving as Ambassador to Turkey, he was elected as President of Ethiopia by a unanimous parliamentary vote on 7 October 2013. Girma Seifu of the

Unity for Democracy and Justice The Unity for Democracy and Justice was an Ethiopian political party. It was founded by Birtukan Midekssa on 20 June 2008, based on the parties that constituted the Coalition for Unity and Democracy. It was a major component in the eight-party M ...

, the sole opposition member of parliament, welcomed his election. Like his predecessors

Girma Wolde-Giorgis Girma Wolde-Giorgis (; 28 December 1924 – 15 December 2018) was an Ethiopian politician who was the president of Ethiopia from 2001 to 2013. He was the second person to hold the office of president since the founding of the Federal Democrati ...

and

Negasso Gidada Negasso Gidada Solon ( gez, ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ; 8 September 1943 – 27 April 2019) was an Ethiopian politician who was the president of Ethiopia from 1995 until 2001. Biography Negasso was the son of Gidada Solon, one of the first local mini ...

, he is Oromo. Mulatu has one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulatu Teshome 1955 births Ambassadors of Ethiopia to China Ambassadors of Ethiopia to Japan Ambassadors of Ethiopia to Turkey Government ministers of Ethiopia Living people Oromo people Presidents of Ethiopia Peking University alumni Beijing Language and Culture University alumni Ethiopian Orthodox Christians Ethiopian Oriental Orthodox Christians Oromo Democratic Party politicians Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front politicians Speakers of the House of Federation Ambassadors of Ethiopia to Azerbaijan People from Oromia Region 20th-century Ethiopian politicians 21st-century Ethiopian politicians