View source for Zera Yacob Amha Selassie

{{Short description|Current Head of the Imperial House of Ethiopia since 1997}}
{{About|the current Head of the Imperial House of Ethiopia|the earlier Emperor who ruled as Constantine I|Zara Yaqob|the early modern philosopher|Zera Yacob (philosopher)}}
{{BLP sources|date=May 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Zera Jacob Amha Selassie
| title        = 
| image        = 
| succession   = 
| reign        = 17 February 1997 – present
| reign-type   = Tenure
| predecessor  = [[Haile Selassie]]<br/>{{small|as [[Emperor of Ethiopia]]}}<br/>[[Amha Selassie]]<br/>{{small|as [[Emperor of Ethiopia|Emperor-in-exile of Ethiopia]]}}
| successor    = Prince Mikael, Duke of Harar
| suc-type     = Heir-Presumptive
| spouse       = Nunu Getaneh (divorced)
| issue        = 1
| house        = [[Solomonic dynasty|House of Solomon]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Amha Selassie]]
| mother       = [[Medferiashwork Abebe]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|1953|8|17|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Addis Ababa]], [[Ethiopian Empire]]
| religion     = [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo]]
}}
{{Imperial Family of Ethiopia}}

'''Zera Yacob Amha Selassie''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|ɪər|ə|_|j|æ|ˈ|k|oʊ|b}}; [[Ge%CA%BDez_script|Geʽez]]: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ አምሃ ሥላሴ; born 17 August 1953) is the grandson of Emperor [[Haile Selassie]] and son of [[Amha Selassie]] of the [[Ethiopian Empire]]. He has been [[Solomonic dynasty|head of the Imperial House of Ethiopia]] since 17 February 1997 as recognized by the [[Crown Council of Ethiopia]].

He was designated as "acting crown prince" and heir presumptive in 1974 by the Emperor Haile Selassie I close to the end of his reign; however, the Empire was overthrown in the [[Ethiopian Revolution|1974 Ethiopian Revolution]] by the [[Derg]].  As a result, Yacob never became a ruling Emperor of Ethiopia.  Ethiopia became a [[Ethiopia#Federal Democratic Republic (1991–present)|Federal Democratic Republic in 1991]].

==Biography==
Zera Yacob attended [[Eton College]] and graduated from [[Exeter College, Oxford|Exeter College]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst|Sandhurst]].<ref name="C&C">{{cite news|last1=Cusick|first1=James|date=23 October 2011|title=Lost: one Lion Emperor, last seen in the Isle of Dogs|work=The Independent on Sunday|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/lost-one-lion-emperor-last-seen-in-the-isle-of-dogs-1285111.html|access-date=9 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118221128/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/lost-one-lion-emperor-last-seen-in-the-isle-of-dogs-1285111.html|archive-date=18 January 2021}}</ref> He was named Acting Crown Prince and [[heir presumptive]] to the Imperial throne of Ethiopia in 1974 by his grandfather, Emperor Haile Selassie, following his father's stroke a year earlier.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/15/archives/haile-selassie-designates-a-grandson-as-eventual-successor-a.html|title=Haile Selassie Designates a Grandson as Eventual Successor|date=15 April 1974|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Charles Mohr|author-link=Charles Mohr (journalist)|access-date=25 August 2020}}</ref>

After the fall of the Ethiopian monarchy, Zera Yacob completed his studies at Oxford in the 1970s and worked briefly as a banker in the United States. He then moved to [[London]] and was married to Princess Nunu (née Getaneh), and later divorced. They had one daughter. He was named [[heir apparent]] by his father, who assumed the title of Emperor-in-exile at that time in April 1989 in London.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

In 1992 he accompanied his father [[Amha Selassie]] to [[Virginia]], United States, where his father had a medical check-up. However, his father suffered a stroke and Zera Yacob stayed for two years. He then applied for a visa following his father's death in 1997. He had returned to [[London]], [[England]], where he had settled in a modest home on the [[Isle of Dogs]].<ref name="C&C"/>

Yacob has been the Executive Director of the Ethiopian Peace Foundation (EPF) since 2002.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

==Honours==
* [[File:Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem - Grand Cross.png|60px]] Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Saint Lazarus (statuted 1910)|Order of Saint Lazarus]] ([[House of Orléans|Orléans-French Royal Family]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cdr.religion.info/sommaires/85_94.htm |title=Connaissance des Religions > Sommaires - 1985-1994 |website=Cdr.religion.info |access-date=21 March 2016 |archive-date=14 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214233546/http://cdr.religion.info/sommaires/85_94.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[File:St.AndrewOrder.png|60px]] Knight Grand Cordon with Collar of the [[Order of St. Andrew|Imperial Order of St. Andrew]] ([[House of Romanov|Russian Imperial Family]])<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.imperialhouse.ru/eng/dynastyhistory/honoursaward/433.html |title=Imperial House |access-date=21 March 2016 |archive-date=12 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712075228/http://www.imperialhouse.ru/eng/dynastyhistory/honoursaward/433.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[File:Order of the Eagle of Georgia - Collar.png|60px]] Knight Grand Collar of the [[Order of the Eagle of Georgia]] ([[Bagrationi dynasty|Georgian Royal Family]])<ref>[https://studylib.es/doc/5791164/elenco-de-caballeros-y-damas-de-la-orden-del-%C3%A1guila-de-ge... Studylib]</ref>

== Ancestry ==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, Crown Prince of Ethiopia{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}'''
|2= 2. [[Amha Selassie|Amha Selassie, Crown Prince of Ethiopia]]
|3= 3. [[Medferiashwork Abebe|''Leult '' Medferiashwork Abebe]]
|4= 4. [[Haile Selassie|''Emperor'' Haile Selassie I]]
|5= 5. [[Menen Asfaw|''Itege'' Menen Asfaw]]
|6= 6. Major-General ''Dejazmatch'' Abebe Damtew 
|7= 7. ''Woizero'' Wosen Falesh
|8= 8. [[Makonnen Wolde Mikael|''Ras'' Mäkonnen Wäldä-Mika'él WoldeNelekot]]
|9= 9. [[Yeshimebet Ali|''Woizero'' Yeshimebet Ali Abba Jifar]]
|10= 10. ''Dejazmach'' Asfaw Mikael, ''Jantirar'' of [[Ambassel]] 
|11= 11. ''Woizero'' Sehin Mikael
|12= 12. ''Fitawrari'' Damtew Ketema  
|13= 
|14= 14. ''Ras Bitwodad'' Mangasha Atikam, Viceroy of [[Gojjam]]
|15= 15. ''Woizero'' Sifrash Bizu Yifru
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ethiopiancrown.org/ The Crown Council of Ethiopia]

{{S-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Solomonic dynasty|House of Solomon]]|17 August|1953}}
{{s-pre|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Amha Selassie]] I}}
{{s-tul|title=[[Emperor of Ethiopia]]|years=17 February 1997 – Present|reason=Empire abolished in 1975}}
{{s-inc|heir=Prince Amde Mikael Ijesus, Duke of Harar}}
{{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selassie, Zera Yacob Amha}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Ethiopian Royal Family|Zera Yacob Amha Selassie of Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Ethiopian princes|Zera Yacob, Crown Prince]]
[[Category:Exiled royalty]]
[[Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded|Zera Yacob Amha Selassie of Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Addis Ababa]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Pretenders to the Ethiopian throne]]
[[Category:Solomonic dynasty]]
[[Category:Haile Selassie]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Lazarus (statuted 1910)]]
[[Category:Recipients of Order of the Holy Trinity (Ethiopia)]]