[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 59 (Monday, May 15, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E829]]


HONORING THE DISTINGUISHED ETHIOPIAN POET LAUREATE TSEGAYE GABRE-MEDHIN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 15, 2006

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and work of 
Ethiopian Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin who passed away on 
February 25, 2006 at the age of 69 in his New York home.
  Mr. Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin left behind a legacy of poetry and literary 
works that continue to inspire generations.
  Tsegaye was born in 1936 in the town of Boda during the Italian 
invasion of Ethiopia. As a youth, he showed great promise as a writer. 
In elementary school he wrote and produced ``King Dionysus and the Two 
Brothers,'' a play that was attended by Emperor Haile Selassie.
  Tsegaye grew to become one of his country's most prominent literary 
figures and an international voice for African culture and peace. A 
prolific writer, he created more than 30 plays and numerous poems. Many 
in Ethiopia have claimed him to be that nation's ``Shakespeare''. For 
Tsegaye, poetry and theater were paths to inspiring hearts and 
condemning violence.
  After completing secondary education in Ethiopia, he attended 
Blackstone School of Law in Chicago where he graduated in 1959. But, 
theater, not law, was his lifelong calling. In 1959 and 1960, he 
studied experimental drama at the Royal Court Theater in London and the 
Comedie-Francaise in Paris.
  Tsegaye revolutionized theater with his portrayals of the poor and 
the forgotten, war, imperialism, human failings, and courage. While his 
work delighted the public, 18 of his 33 plays were banned by one 
government or another. He put into words what many could not say. 
Tsegaye's poem, ``The Day's Hunger Consumed,'' voiced an Ethiopian 
public's outrage at the news of famine raging in the north.
  From 1961-1971, he was artistic director of the Ethiopian National 
Theater. In 1964, ``Oda Oak Oracle,'' a play written in English about 
Ethiopian country life and lore was produced around the world thrilling 
audiences in Africa, Great Britain and the U.S.
  In 1971, Tsegaye was awarded a fellowship to the University of Dakar 
to study African cultural antiquities. That research led to a Fulbright 
Scholarship which enabled him to tour the U.S. lecturing on Ethiopian 
art and literature. During the 1970s, he helped found the department of 
theater at Addis Ababa University. He also worked as an Oxford 
University Press editor and in 1975 served as Vice Minister of Culture 
and Sports.
  Tsegaye's contributions to art and history are recognized worldwide. 
In 1966, he was awarded Ethiopia's highest literary honor--the Haile 
Selassie Prize for Amharic Literature. Other awards include the Gold 
Mercury Ad Personam Award in 1982; Fulbright Senior Scholar Resident 
Fellowship Award at Columbia University in 1985; Human Rights Watch 
Free Expression Award in New York in 1994. In 1997, the Congress of 
World Poets and the United Poets Laureate International conveyed on him 
the title of Poet Laureate. The Norwegian Author's Union, along with 
the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, conferred its Annual 
Freedom of Expression Prize on Tsegaye in 2005.
  Poet Laureate Tsegaye held membership in many distinguished 
organizations, including the African Writer's Union and the African 
Researcher's Union. While Tsegaye received many honors, one of his most 
prized was when the African Union selected one of his poems for its 
anthem. In the poem, Tsegaye wrote, ``Let us make Africa the tree of 
life.''
  Ailing health forced Tsegaye to leave his beloved Ethiopia in 1998 to 
move to New York for medical treatment that was not available in 
Ethiopia. Undeterred by illness, weakened eyesight, and an exhausting 
regimen of medical procedures, he continued to educate and inspire 
through his art, his unwavering social consciousness, and his sense of 
purpose and humanity.
  Through his literature, Tsegaye's pride in Ethiopia and love for 
Africa will live with us forever.
  I close with one of Tsegaye's more famous quotations, ``I crave for 
knowledge. I envy tolerant, peaceful folks. I am frightened by 
ignorance. I loathe violence.''--Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin

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