Taddesse Tamrat ( am, ታደሰ ታምራት; 4 August 1935 – 23 May 2013) was an Ethiopian historian and scholar of Ethiopian studies. He is best known as the author of ''Church and State in Ethiopia 1270–1520'' (1972, Oxford University Press ), a book which has dominated the field of Ethiopian studies.

Biography

Taddesse Tamrat was born in Addis Ababa from a family belonged to

Ethiopian Orthodox Church 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 ...

clerks. He received an education through the traditional system of the

, where he was ordained as a deacon. As a young man he studied at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, but his father insisted that he study at a more traditional church school to properly learn the Ge’ez language. He returned to Addis Ababa and graduated from

Haile Selassie I University Haile ( Ge'ez "the power of") may refer to: ;People with the given name Haile * Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (1892–1975), Emperor of Ethiopia * Haile Gerima (born 1946), Ethiopian filmmaker * Haile Gebrselassie (born 1973), Ethiopian distance runne ...

with a Bachelor of Arts at History in 1962. Following that, he received a scholarship to the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

in London where he earned his doctorate in history. As a student there, he presented a seminar paper of some notes on the fifteenth century Stefanite heresy in the Ethiopian Church, which on the advice of his mentors

Roland Oliver Roland Anthony Oliver FBA (30 March 1923 – 9 February 2014) was an Indian-born English academic and Emeritus Professor of African history at the University of London. Throughout a long career he was an eminent researcher, writer, teacher, ...

and

Edward Ullendorf Edward Ullendorff (1920–2011) was a British scholar and historian. He was a prominent figure in Ethiopian Studies and also contributed work on the Semitic languages. Biography Born on 25 January 1920 in Zurich, Switzerland, Ullendorff was e ...

was submitted to and published in '' Rassegna di Studi Etiopici'', his first article published outside of Ethiopia. It demonstrated his rich grounding in traditional Ethiopian Orthodox sources and his interaction with the broader academic world. He taught history at Haile Selassie I University, which became

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, ...

after the 1974 revolution. He became the director of the

Institute of Ethiopian Studies The Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) was officially established in 1963 to collect information on Ethiopian civilization, its history, cultures, and languages.Pankhurst, Richard. "Institute of Ethiopian Studies." In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He ...

at the university and was active in the organizing the meetings of the International Conference of Ethiopian Studies.Bahru Zeude. 2012. "Taddese Tamrat. Personal memories", ''Rassegna di Studi Etiopici'' Nuova Serie, Vol. 4 (47) pp. 285-287. He received the Medal of Honor at the Colège de France and was named an Honorary Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies. The Manuscript Department of the

was named in his honor. He and his wife of 45 years, Almaz, had a marriage that was admired by others. During the later years, Taddesse was treating his illness in hospital at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. His wife of 45 years died in July 2012. He died on 23 May 2013, and survived by his three daughters.

References

{{authority control 1935 births 2013 deaths Alumni of SOAS University of London Addis Ababa University faculty Ethiopian Orthodox Christians Ethiopian studies Ethiopianists Ethiopian historians Addis Ababa University alumni