Menen (1899–1962)

Empress of Ethiopia. Born Menen Asfaw in Dessié, Ethiopia, in March 1899; died after many years of ill health on February 15, 1962, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; daughter of Asfaw Mikael Ambassel (jantirar [ruler] of Anbassel or Ambassel) and Sehin Mikael (daughter of King Michael of Wollo and sister of Lij Iyasu); niece of Lij Eyasu also known as Lij Iyasu, king of Ethiopia; cousin of Amde Mikael; married Lul Sagad (a Shewan noble) also known as Ras Leulseged Atnaf Seged (died 1916); married Ras Tafari, later known as Haile Selassie I (1892–1975), emperor of Ethiopia (r. 1930–1974), on July 31, 1911, in Harar, Ethiopia; children: (first marriage) Gabre Iqziabher Asfa (b. 1909); (second marriage) Princess Tenagne Worq also seen as Tenagnework (b. 1913); Asfa Wossen (1916–1997), known under title Meredazmatch (1931–1997), also 65th emperor of Ethiopia as Amha Selassie I (r. 1975–1997); Princess Zenabe Worq also seen as Zenebework (1918–1933); Princess Tsahai Worq also seen as Tsehai (1919–1942); Prince Makonnen (1923–1957); Prince Sahle Selassie (1931–1962).

In 1911, Ras Tafari, who would later be known as Haile Selassie I, married Menen Asfaw, niece of Lij Iyasu, king of Ethiopia. It was a union fraught with political significance. In 1916, Haile Selassie deposed Lij Iyasu in a coup. In 1930, Menen was crowned empress of Ethiopia upon the coronation of her husband as emperor.

The couple had six children together (Haile Selassie also had a daughter from an earlier first marriage), and Menen remained a trusted advisor to her husband until her death in 1962. Haile Selassie died in Addis Ababa on August 27, 1975.