By Dr. Richard Pankhurst:-
Mikael Aragawi
One of several young Ethiopians educated by Protestant missionaries,
in the second half of the nineteenth century, was, as we saw last week,
Mikael Aragawi, a Falasha convert to Christianity, who had studied at
Chrischona in Switzerland.
Mikeal Aragawi, though deeply was not exclusively interested in
matters theological. He was, it is said, also much concerned with the
material things of this world. His “admiration of all things European,
and particularly British,” according to his teacher Martin Flad, was
“unbounded.” One day, while standing in one of the finest London
streets, he is said to have exclaimed, “Why are we Abyssinians in this
world, dirty Africans that we are, so proud? Europeans live in the
vestibule of Heaven, and we in the vestibule of Hell!”
Despite such negative views about his own motherland, he duly
returned to Ethiopia, in 1885, and became actively involved in
missionary work, and teaching. This did not of course lead to the
building of any fine roads such as he had so admired in London!
Later, in 1893 he paid a third visit to Europe, and was at around this time appointed head the Protestant Mission to the Jews.
In 1923-4, Mikael Aragawi again travelled to Europe, and spent a year
at the Flad’s home at St. Legier sur Vevey, in Switzerland. There he
revised Blattengeta Heruy Walda Sellase’s manuscript of the Four Gospels
and Acts, which was eventually incorporated in Emperor Haile
Sellassie’s Bible. He died, in his native land, in 1931.
Samani Danyel
Samani Danyel, who was another converted Falasha educated at
Chrischona, felt close to the European missionaries whom Emperor
Tewodros had imprisoned. He accordingly went to the Red Sea coast to
volunteer to serve with the British expedition of 1867-8, been
dispatched to effect their liberation.
While at Massawa, he met Joseph Halevy, the Jewish French scholar of
Ethiopian affairs, who kindly gave him some financial assistance. On the
following day, however, Samani decided to return the money on the
grounds that Halevy was a Jew. The latter refused to take back the gold,
whereupon Samani impetuously threw it into the Red Sea, exclaiming, “I
will not sell my Saviour!”
Later, on completing his studies at Chrischona, he founded a mission
school at Assoso, with the help of his friend Agaje in 1874. It did not,
however, last long, for both teachers died in 1878 or 1879, the latter
at least of smallpox, which those days, before modern vaccination, was
very prevalent.
Gabru Dasta
Perhaps the most important of the Protestant missionary educated boys
of this time was Gabru Desta, a Christian youth from Bagemder, who,
though never a Falashas, had been brought up with the Protestant mission
to the Falashas.
After the battle of Magdala, in 1868, his missionary friends took him
to Bishop Gobat’s school in Jerusalem, for which reason he was often
spoken of as Gabru Gobat. Subsequently, in 1873, he travelled to Basle,
in Switzerland, where he stayed until 1878. On completing his studies he
returned to Gobat’s school, this time as a teacher, and later joined a
group of missionaries stationed at Zanzibar. He was for a time attached
to the British Keith Falconer medical mission in Aden. During his stay
there, he arranged for the return to Ethiopia of a number of Ethiopian
slaves, two of whose names, Telesa and Negero, are still remembered.
Hearing of the Italian Occupation of Massawa
On subsequently hearing of the Italian occupation of Massawa, in
1885, Gabru, more patriotic perhaps than some of the other
missionary-educated, determined to return home to assist Emperor
Yohannes in the period of difficulty ahead. “The Emperor,” we , are
told, nevertheless regarded him “somewhat coldly”. This was largely
because of his strong distrust of missionaries, He even for a time
suspected Gabru of being an agent of the Italians. The young man,
however, finally won the confidence of the monarch, and was charged by
the latter with several important missions.
On the death of the Emperor, in 1889, Gabru, who was by then known as
Alaqa, on account of his prominence in church affairs, went to Harar,
where he distributed Scriptures on behalf of the British and Foreign
Bible Society. Ras Makonnen, the local governor, soon afterwards
appointed him chief of the city’s police.
The Ras was much pleased by Dasta’s extraordinary capacity for work,
which he extolled to Emperor Menilek. The latter was so impressed that
he summoned Gabru to Addis Ababa, where he made use of his services for
many years.
Kantiba Gabru
Gabru was later appointed Kantiba, or Mayor, of Gondar, in 1898, and
entrusted with the delicate task of negotiating with the Sudanese
Mahdists. He also assisted in the return of Ethiopian prisoners whom the
latter had taken, and later, in 1901, represented Emperor Menilek in
London, at the Coronation of King Edward VII.
Kantiba Gabru’s importance was so great that the French Legation,
which disliked his British affiliations, is said to have conspired
actively against him. A British report for 1902 noted that Gabru had
“suffered confiscation of his property and was imprisoned for several
years owing to French intrigues against him on account of his English
sympathies.”
Gabru nevertheless turned this period to good advantage by engaging
in literary and scholastic pursuits. He subsequently became interpreter
to the German Legation, where his knowledge of German proved useful, and
represented Ethiopia at the coronation of King George V, in 1911.
After World War I, he was chosen by the Ethiopian Government to visit
London and Washington to congratulate the Allies on their victory.
On the promulgation of Emperor Haile Sellassie’s first Constitution,
in 1931, he was appointed Vice-President of the Senate. Later again,
after the Italian fascist capture of Addis Ababa half a decade later, he
made his way to Gore, where attempts were being made to organise
guerrilla resistance to the invader. Captured by the enemy, he was taken
to the Prison Island of Asinara, but was later freed, and lived on to a
ripe old age. He died in 1950 .
“Come Barefoot… We Ethiopians Do Not Wear Shoes”
The early Ethiopian returnees from study abroad were often regarded
by their compatriots, including the nobility, with a critical eye.
Martin Flad recalls that when his friends, and former students,
Mikael Aragawi and Agaje, were called to the presence of Emperor
Yohannes IV, the latter was displeased that they had adopted the
European fashion of wearing shoes. “If you appear again before me,” he
is reported to have said, “come barefoot: we Ethiopians do not wear
shoes”.
Rabbinical Study
While the Protestants were trying to convert the Falashas to
Christianity, one French Jew, the above-mentioned scholar Halevy, so to
speak fought back. He too took a young Ethiopian student abroad: Alaqa
Danyel, a Falasha, who followed a course in Rabbinical studies in Egypt,
and was notable in being the first non-Christianised Falasha to study
outside the country.
Roman Catholic Education
Roman Catholic missionaries, in this period, were also active in
taking young Ethiopians abroad. The renowned Italian Lazzarist
missionary, Monseigineur Giustino De Jacobis, took no less than 23 young
men to Rome as early as 1841. A further 18 students, mostly Gallas, or
Oromos, were installed, around 1869, in a Capuchin institution, the St.
Michel College at Marseilles. In 1872 four students who could not stand
the French weather were, however, repatriated. They included Yosef, who
subsequently became prominent as Emperor Menilek’s interpreter.
A British Plan, Which Failed
A decade and a half after the British expedition against Emperor
Tewodros, its former commander, Robert Napier, wrote to the British
Foreign Secretary, Lord Granville, on 2 January 1884. He declared that
it would assist British relations with Ethiopia if “a modest number of
young Abyssinians” could be taken abroad for education, “possibly in
Bombay or Madras”, in India.
The British Foreign Office, however, seems to been unwilling to
envisage expenditure of the funds required. It was nevertheless
subsequently agreed that one young Ethiopian should be entrusted to the
care of an English clergyman, the Rev. J. E. P. Bartleet, of Norfolk,
who was willing to provide him with board, lodging, and tuition for the
monthly sum of 10 pounds Sterling. Treasury permission was also obtained
for the young man to be given a set of clothes to be purchased from the
Army and Navy Stores
“You are Nothing but a Russian Pig”
Another early foreign sponsor of Ethiopian study abroad was the
Russian adventurer, Nicholas Ashinoff, who took two young Ethiopians, a
boy and a girl, with him to Russia. His idea, which was connected with
his ambition of arranging an alliance between the two countries, was to
have the boy educated in a monastery and the girl in a nunnery. The
outcome of the project, like much connected with Ashinoff, seems
shrouded in mystery. The educational project was, however, probably not
very successful, as the boy is said to have been very stubborn and
headstrong. He complained that his instructors failed to recognise his
merit, and he therefore flew into violent tempers. To quieten him the
Russian Foreign Minister on one occasion arranged for a Russian monk to
take him for a drive in a St. Petersburg tram, but this was reportedly
not fully a success. The British Ambassador in St. Petersburg, in a
Foreign Office dispatch, quotes the Russian Foreign Minister as
reporting that the journey involved an unpleasant incident. While the
youngster and his companion were travelling in the vehicle “a
respectable Russian citizen turned round to his neighbour, and said,
`That is a negro,’ upon which the young Abyssinian, who is only 12 years
old, flew at the burgher’s throat, and explained in excellent Russian,
‘You call me a negro, but you yourself are nothing but a Russian pig’,
at which His Excellency chuckled a good deal.”
Source: http://www.linkethiopia.org
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