Haile Selassie was crowned in Addis Ababa on November 2, 1930. His public career had begun well before that ceremony and continued through invasion, exile, restoration and decades of diplomacy.
These six records include a reproduction of contemporary coronation coverage and five archival photographs. Each retains its own date: the later wartime and diplomatic pictures are context for the reign, rather than images of coronation day.
Topic: African History
01 / 06
Ras Tafari in France, before the crown
Ras Tafari visits Sainte-Assise during his 1924 European travels. The French press agency identified the prefect of Seine-et-Marne at left and Oudaille at right. Tafari was then Ethiopia’s regent, six years before his coronation as emperor. The photograph records an earlier phase of the diplomacy that would remain central to his reign.
Agence Rol / Bibliothèque nationale de France, Rol 92192
02 / 06
The coronation reaches a French magazine cover
L’Illustration placed the Ethiopian coronation on its November 15, 1930, cover, thirteen days after the ceremony. This is a modern photograph of that original printed cover, not a newly discovered camera negative. It preserves the way the imperial ceremony was presented to readers outside Ethiopia.
Photo details
Date
Cover published November 15, 1930; reproduction photographed February 7, 2019
Location
Printed in France; ceremony depicted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
L’Illustration; reproduction by Philippe Alès / Wikimedia Commons
03 / 06
At Dambacha Fort during the return campaign
Haile Selassie stands between Brigadier Daniel Arthur Sandford and Colonel Orde Wingate at Dambacha Fort on April 15, 1941. A map lies on the table. The setting belongs to the military campaign against Italian occupation, more than a decade after the coronation and shortly before the emperor returned to Addis Ababa.
Photo details
Date
April 15, 1941
Location
Dambacha Fort, Ethiopia
Photographer
Lieutenant F. E. Palmer, No. 1 Army Film and Photographic Unit
Archive / collection
Imperial War Museums, E 2462
Rights / license
Public domain; British official photograph with expired Crown copyright
Lieutenant F. E. Palmer, No. 1 Army Film and Photographic Unit / Imperial War Museums, E 2462
04 / 06
Armed men gather for the return proclamation
The Imperial War Museums caption identifies Ethiopian men carrying captured Italian weapons in Addis Ababa as a proclamation announced the emperor’s return in May 1941. Their presence reminds us that the restoration involved Ethiopian resistance as well as foreign military assistance. The record identifies the month, rather than a precise day.
Photo details
Date
May 1941, according to the archive caption
Location
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Photographer
British official photographer unidentified
Archive / collection
Imperial War Museums, K 325
Rights / license
Public domain; British official photograph with expired Crown copyright
British official photographer unidentified / Imperial War Museums, K 325
05 / 06
A state visit in Washington
Haile Selassie rides with President John Kennedy during the October 1, 1963, welcome parade from Union Station toward Blair House. The White House is visible behind the car. Thirty-three years after his coronation, the emperor was still using highly visible diplomatic visits to represent Ethiopia abroad.
Photo details
Date
October 1, 1963
Location
Washington, D.C., United States
Photographer
Office of the Naval Aide to the President
Archive / collection
U.S. National Archives, NAID 194270
Rights / license
Public domain in the United States; official federal government photograph
Office of the Naval Aide to the President / U.S. National Archives, NAID 194270
06 / 06
Diplomacy inside the Oval Office
Later on the same visit, the emperor met Kennedy in the Oval Office. Robert Knudsen’s photograph offers a quieter counterpart to the arrival parade. The meeting occurred in the year Addis Ababa hosted the founding summit of the Organization of African Unity, an important part of Ethiopia’s international role.
Photo details
Date
October 1, 1963
Location
Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.
Photographer
Robert LeRoy Knudsen
Archive / collection
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, JFKWHP-AR8150-P
Rights / license
Public domain in the United States; official federal government photograph
