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''Ras'' Desta Damtew (Amharic: ደስታ ዳምጠው ; ''ca.'' 1892 - 24 February 1937) was an Ethiopian noble, an army commander, and a son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie I. ==Biography== Born at the village of Maskan (in the contemporary Gurage Zone), Desta Damtew was the second son of ''Fitawrari'' Damtew Ketena. His older brother was Abebe Damtew. In 1896, ''Fitawrari'' Damtew Ketena was killed at the Battle of Adwa. As boys, ''Lij'' Desta Damtew and his brother ''Lij'' Abebe Damtew served at the Imperial Palace in Addis Ababa as pages to Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taitu Bitul. Desta Damtew went on to serve in the Dowager Empress Taitu's household at the Palace on Mt. Entoto after the death of Menelik II. In 1916, Desta Damtew supported Tafari Makonnen against ''Lij'' Iyasu. Tafari Makonnen was the future Emperor Haile Selassie I. ''Lij'' Iyasu was deposed but escaped. In 1920, Desta Damtew was in the party that captured ''Lij'' Iyasu.〔Haile Selassie, p. 25〕 In 1924, Desta Damtew married Tafari Makonnen's daughter ''Leult'' Tenagnework Haile Selassie. They had four daughters and two sons.〔Mockler, p. 390〕 Anthony Mockler describes Desta Damtew as "something of an eccentric among Ethiopian nobles", who had run away in his twenties to become a monk at Debre Libanos, as well as having a reputation "as an entrepreneur and an ''enfant terrible''." Mockler continues that ''Ras'' Desta "had as little taste as the young progressives of inferior birth for the traditional amusements of the Amhara aristocracy, the feasting, the horsemanship, the boasting and the drunkenness."〔Mockler, p. 90〕 According to his obituary in ''The Times'' he was "a tall and princelike figure, ascetically handsome in face and reserved in manner. He had the soft, almost inaudible voice of the aristocratic Amhara. Although a modernizer on the Imperial pattern, he was perfectly frank about his distrust of foreigners. "The less foreigners visit Ethiopia, the better," was a remark he once made at a European gathering at the British Legation."〔The Times, Friday, Feb 26, 1937; pg. 18; Issue 47619; col C: 'Ras Desta An Able Ethiopian Chief' (Obituary)〕 By 1928, ''Negus'' Tafari Makonnen appointed his son-in-law Desta Damtew as ''Dejazmach'' and as ''Shum'' of Kefa Province.〔Haile Selassie, p. 25〕 In 1932, Emperor Haile Selassie I appointed Desta Damtew as a ''Ras''. In the same year, he was appointed ''Shum'' of Sidamo Province and of Borena Province.〔Haile Selassie, p. 25〕 He succeeded Birru Wolde Gabriel in Sidamo. In 1933, ''Ras'' Desta Damtew traveled to America to return the visit of the United States representative to the coronation of Haile Selassie. It was his only journey outside Ethiopia.〔The Times, Friday, Feb 26, 1937; pg. 18; Issue 47619; col C: 'Ras Desta An Able Ethiopian Chief' (Obituary)〕 He arrived in New York and was greeted with royal honours, later lunching with President Roosevelt.〔New York Times, July 19, 1933, Wednesday, Page 19: 'RAS DESTA DEMTU DAZZLES THE CITY; The Son-in-Law of Ethiopia's 'Light of the World' Arrives in Princely Splendor. 19-GUN SALUTE MADE 21 Washington Ordered Royal Honor -- Envoy to Lunch With Roosevelt Today.'〕 In 1935, ''Ras'' Desta commanded troops〔The Times, Friday, Feb 26, 1937; pg. 18; Issue 47619; col C: 'Ras Desta An Able Ethiopian Chief' (Obituary) "...Ras Desta commanded the forces of his provinces, Sidamo and Galla Borana: he was able to raise a total of some 25,000 men.."〕 along the southern border of Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. In January 1936, he was defeated by the Italian General Rodolfo Graziani at the Battle of Ganale Dorya. Desta retreated back to his administrative center at Irgalem, where with the help of ''Dejazmach'' Gabremariam, he reorganized his survivors to resist the Italian advance.〔Mockler, p. 95〕 Desta continued to resist the Italians after the Emperor left the country. In 1936, after the end of the rainy season, Italian General Carlo Geloso, who had been appointed governor of the Italian province of Galla-Sidamo, advanced from the north to dislodge ''Ras'' Desta and ''Dejazmach'' Gabremariam. However by the end of October, Geloso had not advanced very far or effectively. It was not until a month later when a second Italian column advanced from the south through the Wadara Forest that ''Ras'' Desta at last left Irgalem, which was occupied 1 December. With ''Dejazmach'' Gabremariam, ''Dejazmach'' Beyene Merid (''Shum'' of Bale Province), and a dwindling number of soldiers, for the next few months ''Ras'' Desta eluded the Italians until they were trapped near Lake Shala in the Battle of Gogetti and annihilated. Wounded, ''Ras'' Desta managed to escape, only to be caught and executed near his birthplace.〔Mockler, p. 172f〕 Following the liberation of Ethiopia from Italian occupation in 1941, the remains of ''Ras'' Desta Damtew were disinterred from the grave they were buried in by the Italians and moved to the Imperial family tombs in the crypt of Holy Trinity Cathedral. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Desta Damtew」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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