Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie June 15, 1929 - January 7, 2003

Sergew.
com
Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie

June 15, 1929 – January 7, 2003
Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on June 15, 1929. His father was Merigeta
Hable-Selassie Zewdie and his mother was Woizero Zewidtu Desta. Keeping with the custom of his
time, he learned the Ethiopian alphabet and church scriptures at the feet of monastic fathers at Lideta
Debir (Church of Our Lady) in Addis Ababa. He then progressed to obtain his elementary school
education at Qdist Selassie (Holy Trinity) School in Addis Ababa.
As one of the first students selected by the Ethiopian government for study abroad, Dr. Sergew pursued
his secondary school education at the Ecclesiastical School in Corinth, Greece. Upon completing high
school in 1953, he stayed in Greece to pursue his university studies at The National University in
Athens, where he subsequently obtained his Bachelor degree in Theology in 1957. Dr. Sergew continued
his quest for higher education by enrolling in Bonn University in Germany. He completed his post-
graduate studies after being awarded his PhD in Ancient History in 1960.
Dr. Sergew commenced his service to his country upon his return to Ethiopia from Germany in 1961.
He became a founding faculty member of the History Department of the Haile Selassie I University
(known today as Addis Ababa University). This pioneer academic constantly strived to promote
Ethiopia’s storied and significant history both among Ethiopians and the world at large. He lectured on
ancient and medieval Ethiopian history and various other courses at the university for 17 years, and
contributed significantly to world forums and dialogues on Ethiopia’s rich history. In addition, he also
taught theology courses at the Holy Trinity Seminary School.
Dr. Sergew’s scholarly endeavors didn’t end with the completion of his studies. During his tenure as a
professor at Haile Selassie I University, he pursued and was awarded several fellowship opportunities
with world-renowned academic institutions such as The University of London, Harvard University,
Princeton University, Heidelberg University and Leiden University. Dr. Sergew, a giant among Ethiopian
scholars, has left a legacy of significant academic works and contributions that chronicle Ethiopia’s place
in the annals of history which will forever serve those who pursue knowledge of this ancient land’s
history and the history of her Orthodoxy.
A short list of Dr. Sergew’s major works includes:

• Bibliography of Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History, 1969.
• Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270, 1972 (This publication is widely regarded as the
authoritative body of work on the period. It is used as text at Addis Ababa University even today, and is
available as reference material in the libraries of many of the world’s most prestigious colleges and
universities.)
• Bookmaking in Ethiopia, 1972.
• Biography of Atse (Emperor) Menelik (in Amharic), 2000.
• The Dictionary of The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (In Amharic), 1990. (This
comprehensive work, spanning 14 volumes, is a leading reference document for scholars of the
Ethiopian Church.)
Complementary to his gift for history, Dr. Sergew was well versed in at least eight languages, which
played an important role in his ability to conduct extensive research required in the compilation of his
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writings. In addition, Dr. Sergew’s vast linguistic knowledge was instrumental in enabling him to author
and extensively publish articles on his beloved Ethiopia in journals across several countries.
Dr. Sergew was married to Weizero Selamawit Makonnen in July 1966 in Addis Ababa. He was a
dedicated father to his five children, Naod, Blein, Fekade Selassie, Nablis, and Amen. Dr. Sergew passed
unexpectedly in Munich, Germany, on January 7th, 2003 at the age of 73. In addition to his children, he
is also survived by his three grandchildren, Hosana, Leah and Emnet.
ዶ/ር ሥርግው ሐብለ ሥላሴ

ሰኔ ፰ ቀን ፲፱፻፳፩ - ታህሣሥ ፳፱ ቀን ፲፱፻፺፭
ዶ/ር ሥርግው ሐብለ ሥላሴ ከAባታቸው ከመሪጌታ ሐብለ ሥላሴ ዘውዴና ከEናታቸው ከወ/ሮ ዘውዲቱ ደስታ ሰኔ ፰ ቀን
፲፱፻፳፩ ዓ. ም. Aዲስ Aበባ ከተማ ተወለዱ። ባገራችን ሥርAትና ባህል መሰረትም EድሜAቸው ለቀለም ትምህርት
በደረሰ ጊዜ Aዲስ Aበባ በሚገኘው የልደታ ደብር ፊደል ቆጥረው ዳዊት ደግመዋል። ከዚያም በኋላ ዘመናዊ የAንደኛ
ደረጃ ትምህርታቸውን Aዲስ Aበባ የቅድስት ሥላሴ ትምህርት ቤት Aጠናቀቁ። በጊዜው ተመርጠው ከቀረቡት
የIትዮጵያ ተማሪዎች Aንዱ ሆነው ግሪክ Aገር ቆሮንጦስ ከተማ የሁለተኛ ደረጃ ትምህርታቸውን Eንዲከታተሉ Eዚያ
ከሚገኘው መንፈሳዊ ትምህርት ቤት ፲፱፻፵፩ ዓ. ም. ተላኩ። ይህንን ትምህርት Aጠናቅቀው Eዚያው ግሪክ Aገር ባለው
Aቴና ዩኒቨርስቲ ገብተው ከAራት ዓመት በኋላ የባችለር ዲግሪያቸውን በቲዎሎጂ ጥናት ተቀበሉ። ከፍተኛ
ትምህርታቸውን በመቀጠል ፲፱፻፶ Eስከ ፲፱፻፶፪ ዓ. ም. ድረስ በጀርመን Aገር በሚገኘው ቦን ዩኒቨርስቲ በጥንታዊ
ታሪክ ምርምር የዶክትሬታቸውን ማEረግ ተቀበሉ። ከዚያም በኋላ Aገራቸውን ለማገልገል ወደ Aዲስ Aበባ ተመለሱ።
ከዚህ ጊዜ ጀምሮ Eስከ ፲፱፻፸ ዓ. ም. ድረስ ለ፲፯ ዓመታት በጊዜው ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ዩኒቨርስቲ (የዛሬው Aዲስ
Aበባ ዩኒቨርስቲ) የጥንታዊና መካከለኛ ዘመን ስልጣኔና ታሪክ የመጀመሪያ ምሁር ሆነው ሠርተዋል። በተጨማሪም
ቅድስት ሥላሴ መንፈሳዊ ኮሌጅ የቲዎሎጂ Aስተማሪ በመሆን Aገልግለዋል። Aገልግሎታቸውን በመምህርነት ብቻ
ሳይወሰኑ ተመራማሪነታቸውንም Aጣምሮ በተመለከተ Eንደ London University ፤ በAሜሪካንም Aገር Eንደ
Harvard University Eና Princeton Univeristy ፤ በጀርመን Aገር Heidlberg University፤ Eንዲሁም
በሆላንድ Lieden University በመሳሰሉት በዓለም በታወቁ ዩኒቨርስቲዎች በፌሎሽፕ Eየተመረጡ በተለያየ ጊዜያት
በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ልዩልዩ ጥናቶችን Aከናውነዋል።
ዶ/ር ሥርግው በትምህርት ዓለም ካሳለፏቸው ዘመናት በላይ በመምህርነትና በምርምር Eስከ ሕይወታቸው ፍጳሜ
ድረስም ሠርተዋል። በዚህም መሠረት ለተማሪዎችና ለተመራማሪዎች Eጅግ ጠቃሚ ሆነው የሚገኙ መጻሕፍትንና
ስነጽሁፎችን Aዘጋጅተው Aሳትመዋል። ከድርሰቶቻቸው ውስጥ ዋና ዋናዎቹን ለመጥቀስ ብቻ ያህል፦
• በEንግሊዘኛ ቋንቋ ፲፱፻፷፩ ዓ. ም. የታተመው Bibliography of Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian

History
• ፲፱፻፷፫ ዓ. ም. የታተመው Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270
የተባሉት ይገኙበታል። Eነኚህ ሁለት መጻሕፍቶች ከIትዮጵያ በተጨማሪ በAውሮፓና በAሜሪካ የሚገኙ Eውቅ
በሚባሉ ዩኒቨርስቲዎችና መጻሕፍት ቤቶች ቀርበው የIትዮጵያን ታሪክ ለሚያጠኑ ሁሉ Eንደ ዋና የምርምር
ዶክሜንት (reference document) ሆነው Eስከ ዛሬ ድረስ ይገኛሉ፤ ወደፊትም ማገልገላቸውን ይቀጥላሉ። Eነዚህም
መጻሕፍት ከታተሙ በኋላ ዶ/ር ሥርግው የፕሮፌሰርነት ማEረግን ለመሸለም በቅተዋል።
ዶ/ር ሥርግው በAማርኛ ቋንቋ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ የቀረበውን በ፲፬ ቅጽ የተተነተነውን ሰፊ የIትዮጵያ Oርቶዶክስ
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Sergew.com
ተዋህዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያንን መዝገበ ቃላት በAቀናባሪነት ያዘጋጁ ናቸው። ይህም ሥነጽሁፍ Eስከ ዛሬ ድረስ ለቤተ ክህነት
ሊቃውንት ተማሪዎችና ትልቅ Aገልግሎትን በማበርከት ላይ ይገኛል። ከላይ ከተጠቀሱትም መጻሕፍት በተጨማሪ
የIትዮጵያን ጥንታዊ የሥነጽሁፍ Aቀራረጽንና የመጻሕፍት Aጠራረዝን የሚገልጽ Bookmaking in Ethiopia
የተባለ መጽሐፍ Aዘጋጅተው Aቅርበዋል። በመጨረሻም በ፲፱፻፺፪ ዓ. ም. የAፄ ምንሊክን የሕይወት ታሪክ በተለይ
የIትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት ከውጪው ዓለም ጋር Iትዮጵያን Eንዴት Eንዳገናኝዋት የሚያብራራ ብዙ Iትዮጵያውን
ያደነቁትን ድርሰትም Aበርክተዋል። ከነዚህ መጻሕፍት በተጨማሪ ከሃያ ያላነሱ የIትዮጵያንና የቤተ ክርስቲያንን
ጥንታዊ ታሪክ የሚመለከቱ ልዩ ልዩ ሠፊ ስነጽሁፎች በበርካታ የዓለም ቋንቋዎች Aዘጋጅተው Aቅርበዋል።
በተጨማሪ ዶ/ር ሥርግው ለAገራቸው ካበረከቱAቸው ዋና ሥራዎች Aንዱ ሆኖ የሚቆጠረው የIትዮጵያ ብራና
መጻሕፍት ድርጅት መስራች ሆነው ያገለገሉበት ጊዜ ነበር። የዚህ ድርጅት የመጀመሪያ ሥራ Aስኪያጅ ሆነው
ከ፲፱፻፷፮ Eስክ ፲፱፻፸፩ ዓ. ም. በተለያዩ ገዳማትና Aድባራት በመዘዋወር በብዙ መቶ የሚቆጠሩ የጥንት ጽሑፎች
በማይክሮፊልም ተቀርፀው ለታሪክና ለሚቀጥሉት ትውልድ Eንዲቆዩ ያደረጉ ሰው ናቸው።
ከወይዘሮ ሰላማዊት መኰንን ጋር ሐምሌ ፲፱፻፶፰ ዓ. ም. በታEካ ነገስት በዓታ ቤተ ክርስቲያን የሠርግ ስነ
ስርዓታቸውን ፈፀሙ። ከዚህም ትዳር Aምስት ልጆች ናOድ፣ ብሌን፣ ፈቃደ ሥላሴ፣ ናብሊስና Aሜንን
Aፍርተዋል። ከነዚህም ልጆች መካከል የሦስቱን ትዳር ለማየት በቅተው፤ ሦስት የልጅ ልጆች ሆሣEና፣ ልያና
Eምነትን ለማቀፍ ችለዋል። ዶ/ር ሥርግው ባደረባቸው ሕመም ምክንያት ታህሣሥ ፳፱ ቀን ፲፱፻፺፭ ዓ. ም.
በሚዩኒክ ከተማ በጀርመን Aገር ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት ተለዩ።
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Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie June 15, 1929 - January 7, 2003

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Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie June 15, 1929 - January 7, 2003

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Who was Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie?

What were some of Dr. Sergew's major academic works and contributions?

Sergew.

Dr. Sergew Hable Selassie

A short list of Dr. Sergew’s major works includes:

ዶ/ር ሥርግው ሐብለ ሥላሴ

• በEንግሊዘኛ ቋንቋ ፲፱፻፷፩ ዓ. ም. የታተመው Bibliography of Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian

• ፲፱፻፷፫ ዓ. ም. የታተመው Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270

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