Gebrehiwet Baykedagn 🌐

Gebrehiwet Baykedagn was born on July 30, 1886. Boarding an Austrian ship in Massawa as a boy, Gebrehiwet was educated in Germany and Austria, graduating in medicine and political economy from the University of Berlin.

Returning to the Horn of Africa, he was appointed Naggadras (Inspector of Customs). In his revolutionary 1919 treatise Mengistna Yehizb Astedader (State and Economy), Gebrehiwet utilized modern economic theory to critique feudalism, champion industrial protectionism, and advocate universal secular education decades ahead of his contemporaries before succumbing to the Spanish flu at thirty-three.