Isaias Afwerki
| Isaias Afwerki | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 1st President of Eritrea | |
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Assumed office 24 May 1993 Acting: 27 April 1991 – 24 May 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| President of the National Assembly | |
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Assumed office 24 May 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Leader of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice | |
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Assumed office 15 June 1994 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front | |
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In office 4 October 1978 – 15 June 1994 |
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| Preceded by | Romodan Mohammed Nur |
| Succeeded by | Sebhat Ephrem |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 February 1946 Asmara, Eritrea |
| Political party | People's Front for Democracy and Justice |
| Spouse(s) | Saba Haile |
| Children | Abraham, Berhane, Elsa |
| Alma mater | Addis Ababa University |
| Religion | Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo |
| Signature |  |
Isaias AfwerkiTigrinya: ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ? [isajas afwɐrkʼi]) (born February 2, 1946) is the first President of Eritrea, a position he has held since its independence in 1993. He led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) to victory in May 1991, thus ending the 30-year-old war for independence that the Eritrean people refer to as "Gedli". The EPLF adopted a new political party name, People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) to reflect its new responsibilities. The PFDJ, with Isaias as its leader, remains the only governing party of Eritrea today.
Isaias Afewerki was born in 1946 in Asmara, Eritrea, to parents Afwerki Abraha and Adanesh Berhe. He hails from the Biher-Tigrinya ethnic group.
Isaias grew up in Asmara and graduated from Prince Makonnen High School in 1965. The good grades he scored in the General School Leaving Certificate Exams enabled him to be admitted to the highly competitive College of Engineering at Haile Selassie I University (now called Addis Ababa University) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, a year later he interrupted his studies to join the Eritrean War of Independence.
Isaias is married to Saba Haile and has two sons and one daughter.
Eritrea's war for independence lasted from 1961 to 1991 and is referred to by the Eritrean people as "Gedli". Isaias became a part of the struggle in 1966, when he abandoned his engineering studies in Addis Ababa and left for Kassala, Sudan, joining the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in exile. In early 1967, Isaias, along with Ramadan Mohammed Nour (later to be EPLF's Secretary General), was sent to China for military training. There they spent almost two years studying political ideologies and guerrilla warfare. Upon Isaias' return, he was appointed political commissar of the ELF.
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