Girmame Neway

Girmame Neway (Known as "Girmame")

Provincial Governor of Wolayta and Jijiga, Columbia University Alumnus, Reformer

Born Jan 01, 1924

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Passed Away Dec 24, 1960 Mojo, Ethiopian Empire

Lifespan 36 years old

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"Ethiopia cannot remain a frozen museum of feudalism while the rest of Africa marches into the dawn of liberty."

Archival Overview

Brilliant intellectual and Columbia University graduate whose reformist governorships in Wolayta and Jijiga challenged feudal land tenure, masterminding the 1960 modernization coup to bring social justice to Ethiopia.

Biographical Record

Girmame Neway was born in Addis Ababa in 1924. Winning an imperial scholarship to the United States, Girmame earned his master's degree in political science from Columbia University, serving as president of the Ethiopian Students Association in America.

Appointed Governor of Wolayta and later Jijiga, Girmame shocked the imperial aristocracy by distributing government land to landless peasants and constructing schools and clinics. Convinced that feudalism could not be reformed peacefully from within, he orchestrated the December 1960 coup with his brother Mengistu. When loyalist troops crushed the uprising, Girmame took his own life on December 24, 1960.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Mojo Memorial Site / Addis Ababa Cenotaph
Mojo, Oromia, Ethiopia

                         GPS: 8.6000, 39.1170                    

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