Tesfaye Gebre Kidan

{{Short description|Ethiopian politician and military officer (1935–2004)}}

{{Hatnote|In this Ethiopian name, the name Gebre Kidan is a patronymic, and the person should be referred by the given name, Tesfaye.}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Lieutenant General

| name = Tesfaye Gebre Kidan

| native_name = {{nobold|ተስፋዬ ገብረ ኪዳን}}

| image = Tesfaye Gebre Kidan.jpg

| office = President of Ethiopia

| status = Acting

| termstart = {{Start date|1991|05|21|df=yes}}

| termend = {{End date|1991|05|27|df=yes}}

| predecessor = Mengistu Haile Mariam

| successor = Meles Zenawi (Acting)

| office2 = Vice President of Ethiopia

| president2 = Mengistu Haile Mariam

| termstart2 = 26 April 1991

| termend2 = 21 May 1991

| predecessor2 = Fisseha Desta

| successor2 = Post abolished

| office3 = Governor-General of Eritrea

| president3 = Mengistu Haile Mariam

| termstart3 = August 1989

| termend3 = 29 May 1991

| predecessor3 = Afework Wolemikael

| successor3 = Isaias Afwerki as Secretary-General of the Provisional Government of Eritrea

| office4 = Minister of Defense

| president4 = Mengistu Haile Mariam

| termstart4 = January 1980{{Cite web | url=https://marxists.architexturez.net/history/erol/ethiopia/building-ethiopia.pdf | title=Building Ethiopia's Revolutionary Party | first=Patrick | last=Gilkes | website=marxists.architexturez.net | date=May 1982}}

| termend4 = 14 May 1988

| predecessor4 = Taye Tilahun

| successor4 = Haile Giorgis Habte Mariam

| birth_date = {{circa|1935}}

| birth_place = Hararghe, Ethiopian Empire{{citation|title=The Standing Committee|date=15 June 1982 |url=https://merip.org/1982/06/mengistu-and-the-standing-committee}}/

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|06|04|1935|df=yes}}

| death_place = Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

| party = Workers' Party of Ethiopia

| native_name_lang = am

| caption = Tesfaye in 1991

}}

Tesfaye Gebre Kidan Geletu ({{langx|am|ተስፋዬ ገብረ ኪዳን ገለቱ|Täsfaye Gäbrä Kidan Gälätu}}, {{Circa|1935}} – 4 June 2004) was an Ethiopian general who was the acting president of Ethiopia for one week in late May 1991.

Biography

=Military career=

Prior to joining the Holetta Military Academy, Tesfaye took a one year teacher training course to become an elementary school teacher. After completing his training, he was assigned to Gamo Gofa province. Because of little pay and bad living conditions, he left his teaching job to join the Holetta Military Academy.

At the academy he met Mengistu Haile Mariam; according to Gebru Tareke, along with Legesse Asfaw and Gebreyes Wolde Hana Tesfaye was part of Mengistu's inner circle, his "pals Mengistu knew more intimately in less pressing times, men who played and drank with him and stood by him during the bloody factional days of the Derg."Gebru Tareke, The Ethiopian Revolution: War in the Horn of Africa (New Haven: Yale University, 2009), p. 140 While a colonel, Tesfaye was a member of the Derg, the military committee which seized power from Emperor Haile Selassie, and which would later order the executions of his officials and allegedly the murder of the deposed emperor himself. He had military successes in Somalia and Eritrea, notably as commander of the forces around Jijiga during the Ogaden War.

Elevated to the rank of Lt. General, Tesfaye Gebre Kidan went on to serve as the longtime minister of defence, then on 14 May 1988 was made military governor and general commander in Eritrea. He was recalled to Addis Ababa from Asmara to serve on the military tribunal, which tried the high-ranking officers who had tried to depose President Mengistu in 1989 following the decisive defeat at the Battle of Shire.

=Vice President of Ethiopia=

He was appointed as Vice President of Ethiopia in April 1991.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwfKAgAAQBAJ&q=Tesfaye+Gebre+Kidan&pg=PA1359|title=Heads of States and Governments Since 1945|last=Lentz|first=Harris M.|date=2014-02-04|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134264971|language=en}} He became acting president on 21 May 1991 when Mengistu fled as Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) forces closed in on the capital.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/22/world/ethiopia-s-dictator-flees-officials-seeking-us-help.html|title=Ethiopia's Dictator Flees; Officials Seeking U.S. Help|last=Krauss|first=Clifford|date=1991-05-22|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-11-29}}

Tesfaye took over a regime in a state of utter collapse. He only ruled for a week before the EPRDF marched into Addis Ababa and seized power on 27 May 1991. "Government troops turned on one another," read one contemporary account. "Soldiers wantonly looted state property." Tesfaye realized almost as soon as he took power that he was in an untenable position. With the EPRDF closing in on Addis Ababa from all sides, Tesfaye informed the U.S. chargé d'affaires in Addis Ababa that he could no longer control the situation and had lost command of what was left of the army. After announcing a unilateral cease-fire he fled for the safety of the Italian Embassy.{{cite magazine |last1=Beyer |first1=Lisa |title=Ethiopia: Rebels Take Charge |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,973133,00.html |magazine=Time |date=10 June 1991 |access-date=14 May 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4565376.stm|title=Languishing in an Addis embassy|last=Biles|first=Peter|date=2005-12-28|website=BBC News|access-date=2016-11-29}} According to Paul B. Henze, Tesfaye had first sought sanctuary at the US embassy, but Ambassador Robert Houdek turned him away.{{cite book |last1=Henze |first1=Paul B. |title=Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia |date=2000 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York, NY |isbn=0312227191 |page=332}}

=Asylum in the Italian Embassy=

The General remained a virtual prisoner in the embassy. He suffered a stroke while at the embassy, and as a result used a wheelchair to move around.{{cite web |last1=Fantahun |first1=Arefaynie |title=Twenty eight years holed up in Italian Embassy |url=https://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/2019/02/17/twenty-eight-years-holed-up-in-italian-embassy/ |website=Ethiopia Observer |access-date=6 April 2021 |date=17 February 2019}}

=Death=

Tesfaye's death was publicly confirmed on 4 June 2004.{{cite web |title=Ethiopia's 7-day president dies in hideout |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5136527 |website=NBC News |date=4 June 2004}}

It is rumored that he died after being hit over the head with a bottle during a physical brawl with Berhanu. CNN later reported that a source confirmed that Berhanu was not involved in the death.{{cite web |last1=McSweeney |first1=Eoin |title=Ethiopian war criminals able to leave Italian embassy after nearly 30 years |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/30/africa/ethiopia-italian-embassy-intl/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=6 April 2021 |date=30 December 2020}}

In the book I noti ospiti, a waiter claimed that on June 2, 2004, Tesfaye was struck on the head with a bottle by his fellow refugee (and former foreign minister) Berhanu Bayeh, causing him to bleed. He was taken to Menelik II Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.