Senedu Gebru

Senedu Gebru was born on January 13, 1916, daughter of prominent diplomat Kantiba Gebru Desta. Educated in Switzerland and France, Senedu returned to Ethiopia as one of the nation's most educated women on the eve of the Italian invasion.

Donning military khakis, she organized medical supplies and intelligence networks for the Black Lion resistance group in western Ethiopia before being captured and exiled to the Italian prison island of Asinara. In 1957, she made history as the first woman elected to the Ethiopian Parliament, later becoming Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies and director of the Empress Menen School.