A Woman to Know: Taytu Betul
You want other countries to see Ethiopia as your protege, but that will never be. — Taytu
(image via Wikimedia Commons)
Empress Taytu was famous for saying "no." According to legend, her indecisive husband, Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II, frequently made flippant promises with a simple "yes, tomorrow" — and then he would call his wife into negotiations, to cancel all agreements with a firm, powerful "no."
While her "nos" didn't win her many admirers, her staunchness brought prosperity to the country: Taytu was crucial to the fight against colonization, and Menelik later credited her with much of the military and economic strategy that kept European invaders at bay. She founded Ethiopia's capital city, Addis Ababa, in 1886, and championed a period of cosmopolitan trade that brought the world to her home country.
And during the momentous Battle of Adwa in 1896, she and Menelik split military duties, with Taytu leading her own army up a mountain to protect her beloved capital city. From there, she vanquished Italian invaders and preserved Ethiopian sovereignty — independence that would remain unchallenged until her death in 1918.
Add to your library list:
The Amazing Lives of Africa's Royal Women (Joyce Hansen)
The Ethiopians: A History (Richard Pankhurst)
Empress Taytu Berul and Menilek II (Chris Pouty)
The Battle of Adwa (Raymond Jonas)
Read more:
Women in Africa: Taytu Betul (UNESCO)
Sister of the Country: Taytu of Ethiopia (Joyce Hansen)
Taytu Betul: The Rise of an Itege (UNESCO)
Addis Ababa (The Black Past)
Taytu Betul: The Bad Cop Empress of Ethiopia (Rejected Princesses)
Ethiopia: A dramatic country (Chris Pouty for the Ethiopia Review)
The Battle of Adwa Changed the Ethiopian World (Ethiopia Online)
Women and Warfare in Ethiopia (Minale Adugna)
The Great Ethiopian Empress Who Said 'No' (Afro Legends)
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