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File:Meles_Zenawi_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_2012.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Meles Zenawi

Also known as Meles Zenawi Asres

Ethiopian politician; Prime Minister of Ethiopia (1955-2012)

AI overview

Meles Zenawi was an Ethiopian politician who served as Prime Minister of Ethiopia for 17 years, from 1995 to 2012. He led the country through a period of significant political and economic change following decades of conflict and authoritarian rule.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Gender: male
Citizenship: Ethiopia
Place of birth: Adwa
Place of death: Brussels
Spouse: Azeb Mesfin
Occupation: military personnel
Educated at: Addis Ababa University
Political party: Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
Languages spoken: Amharic
Religion: Eastern Orthodoxy
Image: Meles Zenawi - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012.jpg
Number of children: 3

Show 7 more facts

Commons category: Meles Zenawi
date of birth: 1955-05-08
date of death: 2012-08-20
name in native language: መለስ ዜናዊ
birth name: Legesse Meles Asres
P10632: Meles Zenawi
manner of death: natural causes

Sources (5)

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Encyclopedic overview

Meles Zenawi Asres (Tigrigna and Amharic: መለስ ዜናዊ ኣስረስ; pronounced [mɛllɛs zenawi asrɛs] listen), born Legesse Zenawi Asres (9 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian politician and former rebel militant commander who served as president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and as prime minister from 1995 until his death in 2012.

Born in Adwa to an Ethiopian father and an Eritrean mother, Meles became actively involved in politics after changing his original first name from Legesse to Meles, adopted following the execution of fellow university student Meles Takele by the Derg government in 1975. In that year, he left Haile Selassie I University to join the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and fight against the Derg (the Mengistu Haile Mariam-led military dictatorship in Ethiopia). In 1989, he became the chairman of the TPLF, and the head of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) after its formation in 1988.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Meles Zenawi” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.