Negasso Gidada
| Negasso Gidada ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ Nägaso Gidada |
|
|---|---|
| President of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | |
|
In office 22 August 1995 – 8 October 2001 |
|
| Prime Minister | Meles Zenawi |
| Succeeded by |
Girma Wolde-Giorgis |
| Member of the House of Peoples' Representatives for Dembidolo | |
|
Assumed office 2005 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Negasso Gidada Solon 3 September 1943 Dembidolo, Ethiopia |
| Political party |
EPRDF (−22 June 2001) Independent (2005–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Regina Abelt |
| Religion | Protestant |
Dr. Negasso Gidada Solon (Amharic: ነጋሶ ጊዳዳ? Nägaso Gidada; born 3 September 1943) was the President of Ethiopia from 1995 until 2001. He is the son of Gidada Solon, one of the first local ministers of a Protestant church in the Dembidolo area in western Ethiopia.
Dr. Nagasso holds a doctorate in social history from the Goethe University in Frankfurt-am-Main and is currently a part-time lecturer of history at Addis Ababa University. The title of his doctoral thesis is "History of the Sayyoo Oromo of Southwestern Wallaga, Ethiopia, from about 1730 to 1886". He is married to Regina Abelt, a German nurse and midwife. Being the First Lady of Ethiopia while holding the German Citizenship earned Abelt considerable, yet unwanted, attention by the German and European tabloid press. In marked contrast, Regina Abelt was virtually invisible in Ethiopia and never enjoyed the official title of First Lady which was instead used by the wife of the Prime Minister.
In Europe, he was an active member of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Dr. Negasso had been Minister of Information in the Transitional Government of Ethiopia and Central Committee member of the Oromo People's Democratic Organisation (OPDO) when he became president on 22 August 1995. He left office when his term expired on 8 October 2001. Before the end of his term, he was expelled from both the OPDO and the EPRDF coalition on 22 June.
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