Yeshashework Yilma

Who is Yeshashework Yilma?

Princess Yeshashework Yilma was the daughter of Dejazmatch Yilma Makonnen, governor of Harar and niece of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. Her mother Woizero Aselefech Wolde Hanna was the niece of Empress Taitu Bitul, consort of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. Through her paternal great-grandmother, she was a member of the Imperial Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia. Her father died while she was still very young.

Yeshashework was raised in the Imperial Palace nursery alongside other children of royal blood during the reign of Menelik II, such as Lij Iyasu. Shortly after her uncle Ras Taffari Makonnen became Crown Prince and Regent of Ethiopia in 1917, Yeshashwork was given in marriage to the much older Leul Ras Gugsa Araya Selassie, Prince of Eastern Tigray, and grandson of Emperor Yohannes IV. As the wife of Leul Ras Gugsa, she was given the title of "Leult" by Empress Zauditu, with the dignity of "Her Highness". Ras Gugsa died not long afterwards, and the widowed Princess returned to Addis Ababa from Mekele. In 1930, her uncle became Emperor Haile Selassie, and she was granted the title of Princess in her own right with the dignity of "Her Imperial Highness" as the daughter of his elder brother. Princess Yeshashework's second husband, Bitwoded Makonnen Demissew, perished at Amba Aradam while fighting the Italian invasion of 1936.