Seyoum Mengesha

Seyoum Mengesha KBE (Amharic: ሥዩም መንገሻ; 21 June 1887 – 15 December 1960) was an army commander and a member of the royal family of the Ethiopian Empire.

With his first wife, Woizero Tewabech he had Leult[nb 6] Wolete Israel Seyum who herself married the Crown Prince, Asfaw Wossen.

In the period 1928-1929 following a long and romantic courtship with Princess Atsede Asfaw Darge from the royal house of Shoa, the couple married and remained devoted until Le'ul Ras Seyoum's death during the coup of 1960.

The group of Ethiopian royalty visited Jerusalem, Cairo, Alexandria, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm, London, Geneva, and Athens.

When General Emilio De Bono initially invaded Ethiopia, he was ordered to stay a day's march away from the advancing Italians.

Their Italian captors accorded the family decent treatment and it was during this time that Le'ul Ras Seyoum and the Duke of Aosta developed a friendship that would later aid the return of Le'ul Ras Seyoum and his family to Ethiopia upon the appointment of the Duke as Viceroy to Ethiopia.

Furthermore, his friendship with the Viceroy enabled Le'ul Ras Seyoum to play an influential role in securing the release of 3,000 Ethiopian POWs being held in Italian Somaliland.

In 1943, the "Woyane rebellion" broke out in southern and eastern Tigray Province and Ras Seyoum was suspected of supporting the rebels.

[3] In December 1960, the Imperial Guard (Kebur Zabangna) launched a coup d'état and seized power in Ethiopia while the Emperor was on a visit to Brazil.

The Emperor returned to Ethiopia and the Army stormed the palace where members of the government were being held prisoner by the Imperial Guards.