Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin

Born on he small mountain town of Boda, Ethiopia on this day in 1936, Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin was one of his country’s most important literary figures and the best known.

Considered by many to be Ethiopia’s greatest playwright, Tsegaye had earned a degree in 1959 from the Blackstone School of Law in Chicago but his interests soon turned to drama.

Even though he wrote in English, he is best known for his use of his own Ethiopian languages. Accounts...