Institute of Ethiopian Studies
The Institute of Ethiopian Studies '' was officially established in 1963 to collect information on Ethiopian civilization, its history, cultures, and languages. The Institute includes a research and publication unit, a library, and a museum. It is located at Addis Ababa University, Sidist Kilo campus, which was at the time of the IES's opening, named Haile Selassie I University after the last emperor of Abyssinia.
The current director of the Institute is Dr. Ahmed Hassen, an associate professor at the university.
History of the IES
The first director of the Institute was Richard Pankhurst, and the first librarian was Stanislaw Chojnacki. Other directors were Fäqadu Gadamu, Taddesse Tamrat, Taddese Beyene, Bahru Zewde, Abdussamad Ahmad, Baye Yemam, and Elizabet Walde Giyorgis.History of the building
The Institute is housed in what was formerly the Gännäta Le’ul or Princely Paradise Palace, which was constructed in 1934 as the principle palace building for Emperor Haile Selassie and his family. In 1936 when Italian forces occupied the city of Addis Ababa, the Fascist Viceroy, Rodolfo Graziani, made it his home and administrative center. The palace became the center of international attention when two Eritrean nationalists attempted to assassinate the viceroy, and Graziani responded by massacring the population of Addis Ababa.Upon Italian liberation, Selassie was restored to the throne, and in 1950, the palace became the headquarters of the Empire.
The palace was also the site of the abortive coup d'etat of 1960, and though it failed, it marked the beginning of the Ethiopian student movement, which would publicly demonstrate against the government for political, economic, and social change.
The ground floor of the palace was originally a banquet hall, which is now the site of the library. The second floor held the Emperor's bedrooms and study, which is now a part of the Ethnological Museum.
Research and publication unit
This IES unit conducts and publishes research. It publishes conference proceedings, museum catalogues, reference works, and the Journal of Ethiopian Studies, which was founded in 1963. The journal publishes articles in English and Amharic, with editorial support from the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies at Hamburg University. It published the national bibliography of materials published in and about Ethiopia until 1975, when the National Archives and Library of Ethiopia took over this responsibility.This unit puts on the international Ethiopian Studies conference once every nine years. There is also a monthly seminar held locally at the IES, for researchers to present their findings to each other and university staff and students.