Regent to the Empress Zauditu from 1916, Ras (Prince) Tafari Makonnen succeeded her to the throne of
Ethiopia in 1930, proclaiming himself Haile Selassie ("Might of the Trinity"). An autocratic ruler, he modernized Ethiopia
and led the resistance against Italian invasion (1935). Selassie was exiled in 1936, but restored to power in 1941 with the
assistance of the Allies in World War II. By the 1970s the region's droughts and famines had taken their toll and Selassie
began to lose popular support. He was deposed in a military coup in 1974 and died while under arrest. His remains were found
in 1992 beneath a toilet in the Imperial Palace, and in 2000 he was interred in the Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa.
Haile Selassie, who claimed to be a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, is the object of veneration in the religion of Rastafarianism (see also: Marcus Garvey)... Selassie was also known as "The Lion of Judah" and "King of Kings"... He traveled with a pet chihuahua
named Chicheebee.
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(born July 23, 1892, near Harer, Eth. — died Aug. 27, 1975, Addis Ababa) Emperor of Ethiopia
(1930 – 74). Tafari was a son of Ras (Prince) Makonnen, a chief adviser to Emperor Menilek
II. After Menilek's daughter, Zauditu, became empress (1917), Ras Tafari (who had married Menilek's great-granddaughter)
was named regent and heir apparent to the throne. When Zauditu died in 1930, Tafari took the name of Haile Selassie ("Might
of the Trinity") to mark his imperial status. As emperor he sought to modernize his country and steer it into the mainstream
of African politics. He brought Ethiopia into the League of Nations and the UN and made Addis Ababa the centre for the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union).
Through most of his reign he remained popular among the majority Christian population. He was deposed in 1974 in a military
coup by Mengistu Haile Mariam and
kept under house arrest. He was apparently killed by his captors. Haile Selassie was regarded as the messiah of the African
race by the Rastafarian movement.
