Sebhat Gebre-Egziabher

Sebhat-Leab Gebre-Egziabher (Tigrinya: ስብሐት ለአብ ገብረ እግዚአብሔር; 1936 – 20 February 2012) was an Ethiopian writer[1] from Tigray. He is famous for pioneering the naturalist writing style in Amharic. His writing style was not constrained by the traditional Ethiopian writing style nor orthodox syntax. Despite using simple words and seemingly light prose, Sebhat's concepts are highly sophisticated and philosophical.

Sebhat Gebre-Egziabher
Sebhat in 2009.
Native name
ስብሐት ለአብ ገብረ እግዚአብሔር
Born1936 (1936)
Adwa, Tigray Province, Ethiopia
DiedFebruary 20, 2012 (aged 75–76)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
OccupationWriter
LanguageTigrigna, Amharic, English, French
CitizenshipEthiopian
Notable worksትኩሳት (Fever)
ሌቱም አይነጋልኝ (Endless Night)
ሰባተኛው መላክ (The Seventh Angel)
RelativesTewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher
This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by his given name, Sebhat, and not as Gebre-Egziabher.

Biography

Sebhat was born in 1936 near the historical town of Adwa, Tigray in a village called Erba Gered. He is the brother of the renowned scientist, Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher.

Sebhat originally intended to be a librarian. He visited Washington in 1960 and stayed there a year. At that time he was intending to write in English. He decided however that Amharic is better suited for his subject matter. He later visited France and received an award from UNESCO.

Sebhat published works of fiction and non fiction in French and Amharic. Some of his works have been translated into English. He also worked as a journalist and columnist for the Ethiopian Herald, Addis Zemen, Menen, and other magazines and newspapers.

Works

Amharic
  • ሌቱም አይነጋልኝ Dawn Yet Not
  • ትኩሳት Tekusat (Fever), 1997 (romance)
  • ሰባተኛው መላክ Säbatägnaw Mälak (The 7th Angel), 1999 (romance)
  • እግረ፡ መንገድ ፩ እና ፪ Egrä Mängäd 1 enna 2 (Along the way 1 and 2), 2003
  • ማስታወሻ Mastawäsha (Notes), 2001
  • አምስት ስድስት ሰባት እና ሌሎችም ታሪኮች (Five, Six, Seven and Other Stories)
  • የፍቅር ሻማዎች (Love Candles)
  • ቦርጨቅ Borchek
  • ስምንተኛው ጋጋታ Semntegnaw Gagata(The Eighth Din)
  • ዛዚ Zazi
  • እነሆ ጀግና Eneho Jegna(Behold The Hero)

English
  • Seeds and other stories, African Sun Publishing. Aventures, 2004 - ISBN 1-883701-03-1 retold by Wendy Kindred[2]

French
  • Les Nuits d'Addis-Abeba, Paris, Actes Sud coll. Aventures, 2004 - ISBN 2-7427-4907-1,[3] Translated by the author and Francis Falceto; Original title: ሌቱም፡ አይነጋልኝ, I will not see the end of the night, 2004.
  • "Letum Aynegalign

References
  1. Milkias, Paulos (2011-05-18). Ethiopia - Paulos Milkias - Google Boeken. ISBN 9781598842579. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  2. Seeds and other stories Archived 2010-06-20 at the Wayback Machine, AfricanMarket.com, accessed March 2010
  3. Les Nuits d'Addis-Abeba : Sheb Gebre-Egziabher : Livres. ASIN 2742749071.
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