Asrat Woldeyes (June 20, 1928 May 14, 1999) was an Ethiopian surgeon, a Professor of Medicine at Addis Ababa University, and the founder and leader of the All-Amhara People's Organization (AAPO), as well as a political figure who was jailed by the Derg and later by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
Professor Asrat was the founding member of the Ethiopian Medical Association (EMA), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCS Edinburgh) and FRCS (England), member of the British Medical Association (BMA), the East African Surgical Association (EASA) and International College of Surgeons (USA).
Born in the capital city of Addis Ababa, Asrat Woldeyes was about three years old when his family moved to the eastern Ethiopian town of Dire Dawa. He was eight years old at the time of the Italian invasion. His father, Ato Weldeyes Altaye, was captured and murdered along with thousands of other civilians following the attempted assassination of the Italian General Graziani on February 19, 1937 in Addis Ababa. His mother died shortly afterwards.
His grandfather, Kegnazmach Tsige Werede Werk, was one of the Ethiopian patriots who was deported to Italy and interned there for three and half years. (Kegnazmach is a title of nobility in Ethiopian monarchial society equivalent to a baron).
Following the liberation of Ethiopia, Asrat Woldeyes moved to Addis Ababa and enrolled at Teferi Mekonnen School, where in 1943 he was awarded a camera for his studies. He was sent to Egypt to continue his education at Victoria College, then to the UK where he studied medicine at Edinburgh University. Completing his training, in 1956 he returned to Ethiopia to work as a general practitioner at the Princess Tsehai hospital (now known as the Armed Forces General Hospital) in the capital, then went back to Edinburgh to specialize in surgery.
He returned to Ethiopia to help in the creation of the first medical school in the country, which came into existence as a part of then Haile Selassie University (now Addis Ababa University) in 1965.
Professor Asrat was the personal physician to Emperor Haile Selassie. Following the overthrow of the Emperor in 1974, Professor Asrat performed prostate surgery on the Emperor and cared for him during his recovery. When the Emperor died suddenly in August 1975, the Derg regime announced that the death was caused by complications of this surgery and old age. The statement also alleged that Professor Asrat could not be located at the time the Emperor's condition was deteriorating. Professor Asrat promptly issued a statement denying that the Emperor had suffered any complications from his surgery which had taken place months earlier, and that he had been available at his home, but that no attempt had been made to reach him.[citation needed]
Years later, although he himself had been imprisoned by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) which deposed the Derg, he willingly testified against the members of the Derg in open court about the death of the Emperor under suspicious circumstances. He was brought from his prison cell to the courthouse by the EPRDF government in order to do so.
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OACC- Dr. Merera Gudina - Oromo Federalist Congress & Medrek Chairby opridekoo2,839 views
EPRDF kene yewetale ...adissu legese ..keye yemetale temberkekhe yemetlemnebete . enklfe yeleme , enantene gude sanaragachu
ethiopiawenege 2 weeks ago
Rest in peace, Professor.
AmaraKoreda 1 year ago