Armenian Community of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at St Mary's Church c1930.

Photo by kind permission of Alain Marcerou

Rubina Sevadjian will give an outline of the once-vibrant Armenian community of Ethiopia, who, having had a presence in that country for more than a century, dispersed after the Revolution of 1974. The Armenians of Ethiopia were influential in the modernising of the country after the defeat of the Italians at the Battle of Adwa and the unification of the country under Emperor Menelik II. They continued to thrive under Emperor Haile Selassie I.

B A Sevadjian was the jeweller and silversmith ‘By Appointment’ to Haile Selassie I. As court appointee he produced orders and medals, and made some of the most important commemorative medals and state gifts for the Emperor.

Admission: £5 (to include refreshments)

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R P Sevadjian is the author of In the Shadow of the Sultan, a historical coming of age novel set during the Hamidian Massacres of 1896. Sevadjian is a third-generation Diasporan Armenian whose family left Asia Minor in the 1800s and was scattered across the world, no members remaining in their ancestral homelands. Born and raised in Africa, she now lives in the UK.