Fesseha Giyorgis
As it is the case wtih most biographies of his contemporary literary and intellectual figures, carefully documented records on Giyorgis are meagre. Nevertheless, by piecing together bits of information from the title page; the introduction; the main body of "About the Author's Journey"; other texts written by the author, and additional sources by other writers, we know that he was from Yeha, a place in the Adwa area of Tigray; that he not only mastered Tigrinya but also both spoken and written Amharic, and that he was fluent in Arabic and knew some French. As regards his activity in Tigray, it is known that he was a debtera, a traditional scholar of high learning who, like all members of the profession, was thoroughly trained in Giiz, history, poetry, and the holy Christian scriptures. Furthermore, about his life in Europe, it is known that after he had travelled from "Ethiopia to Italy" his stay in Italy, like his life in Tigray, was characterised, as Richard Pankhurst established, by considerable interest in academic pursuits as well as in the learning of languages. "He taught Ethiopic grammar and rhetoric," whilst he also "studied Latin and Italian". About his later life, moreover, according to Yaqob Beyene, it is known that at some point he returned to Ethiopia and subsequently lived and died in Eritrea, in Addi Zenu (Seraye), in 1931.
As it is the case wtih most biographies of his contemporary literary and intellectual figures, carefully documented records on Giyorgis are meagre. Nevertheless, by piecing together bits of information from the title page; the introduction; the main body of "About the Author's Journey"; other texts written by the author, and additional sources by other writers, we know that he was from Yeha, a place in the Adwa area of Tigray; that he not only mastered Tigrinya but also both spoken and written Amharic, and that he was fluent in Arabic and knew some French. As regards his activity in Tigray, it is known that he was a debtera, a traditional scholar of high learning who, like all members of the profession, was thoroughly trained in Giiz, history, poetry, and the holy Christian scriptures. Furthermore, about his life in Europe, it is known that after he had travelled from "Ethiopia to Italy" his stay in Italy, like his life in Tigray, was characterised, as Richard Pankhurst established, by considerable interest in academic pursuits as well as in the learning of languages. "He taught Ethiopic grammar and rhetoric," whilst he also "studied Latin and Italian". About his later life, moreover, according to Yaqob Beyene, it is known that at some point he returned to Ethiopia and subsequently lived and died in Eritrea, in Addi Zenu (Seraye), in 1931.
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