Haile Maryam Gebre

Haile Maryam Gebre of Semien, Horse name: Abba Dammana (lit: Father of the Cloud) was an early 19th century governor of Semien, Welkait and Wogera. Haile Maryam tried to hold his hereditary possessions in the face of continuous pressure from rival lords during Ethiopia's Zemene Mesafint era. He is remembered as the guardian of Waldeba monastery. Ancestry Haile Maryam's family originated from the Semien mountains and belonged to the Orthodox Christian Amharas. His mother was Sahlitu Kefle Iyesus; and his father was Ras Gebre of Semien, the ruler of Semien, Tsegede, Welkait and Wogera. His sister Teshen Gebre was one of the wives of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I. Life Yejju invasion In 1812 according to Nathaniel Pearce's journal, Ras Gugsa of Yejju ordered his head general Ackly Marro to wage war against Haile Maryam's father, Ras Gebre of Semien. However, Ras Gugsa's expansionist drive to subdue Semien came to an end when Haile Maryam defeated his retainer Woldi Comfu in Welkait.