Negasso Gidada

Who is Negasso Gidada?

Dr. Negasso Gidada Solon 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.