Mekonnen was born in Addisge, the nephew of the noted Shewan general and politician Ras Betwoded Tessema Nadew, who introduced him to Emperor Menelik II.

His second marriage, to the Emperor's niece, Princess Yeshashework Yilma, followed Makonnen's affair with the woman, who was married to the Tigrayan noble Ras Gugsa Araya Selassie at time.

The affair threatened to destroy the accord Emperor Haile Selassie had carefully crafted, and led to Makonnen's recall from his post as Minister to Great Britain in 1932.

However, as John Spencer points out, Ethiopia was able to rely on the principle of postliminium—that is, once enemy occupation is terminated, a state may act as if its existence had survived without interruption.

[6] Although Makonnen led the delegation that represented Ethiopia at the summit in San Francisco that created the United Nations, because he was not fluent in either French or English he took no part in the debates.