He was also the first playwright in Ethiopia, and pioneer of Ethiopian and African theater[2] Born in the parish of Seya in Shewa[1] into a clerical Amhara family with connections to the nobility.

His father died just before his birth, and his uncle and elder brother became responsible for his upbringing, enrolling the boy in an Orthodox Church school when he was six years old.

[1] At age 11, and already in possession of an expensive Winchester rifle and 150 bullets and ‘‘vowing to kill 150 Italians’’ the youngster accompanied Ras Makonnen and his brother on the march towards the war front, where they joined the forces of Emperor Menelik II to confront Italy's aggression.

Ras Makonnen entrusted Tekle Hawariat (it's unclear whether the boy was injured) to one of the members of the Russian mission, Count Nikolay Leontiev, to take him to Russia and have him educated and learn about European cultures.

[7] After a period of idleness; Tekle Hawariat came to the painful realization that Ethiopia had no need for either his training in artillery or his skill in the Russian language and decided to go to France to study agriculture.

[1] Tekle Hawariat received grants from Emperor Menelik II to cover his expenses abroad, but he had to supplement them by tutoring Russian children in Paris.

[3][1] Upon his return to Ethiopia in 1912[7] Tekle Hawariat assumed his first post under Negadras Haile Giyorgis Woldemikael governing the capital Addis Abeba.

[9][1] Tekle Hawariat relationship with the new regent Ras Tafari (future Emperor Haile Selassie) had an auspicious start, he was appointed governor of Jijiga in 1917 and was distinguished with the noble and military title of Fit′awrari.

It's unclear whether Tekle Hawariat quit or was removed from his post; however, in his autobiography he said to have resigned following disagreements with regent Ras Tafari who kept reappointing people he had dismissed for inefficiency.

[1] Sometime between 1916 and 1921[note 2] Tekle Hawariat wrote and produced a drama named ‘‘Fabula: Yawreoch Commedia’’ (Fable: The Comedy of Animals).

Tekle Hawariat in his autobiography attributes this to Ras Tafari ‘‘trait’’ towards him, first by allowing him free rein to govern and then creating all sorts of obstacles.

The cultivation of the crop was still permitted in adjacent provinces and led to the decline in revenues in Chercher, according to Tekle Hawariat, a situation partly created by ‘‘obstructionists sent from Addis Ababa’’.

[1] Tekle Hawariat did so by consulting the American, English, German, Italian and Japanese constitutions, with clear preponderant influence of the Japanese model; However, his draft was subjected to close scrutiny by the Emperor and his close associates, Ras Kassa Haile Darge and Heruy Welde Sellase who modified Tekle Hawariat's draft ‘‘to meet imperial needs’’.

Changes included the legislative powers granted to the parliament were reduced and instead of Tekle Hawariat's proposal that the deputies be elected the final draft made them appointees.

However, the uncooperative attitudes of not only the British and French delegates frustrated him so much he asked Emperor Haile Selassie to be relieved so he could return to Ethiopia where he could be of better use using his military training to organize his country's defenses against the unavoidable conflict.

"Although I must have been for him an almost complete stranger, he lost no time unburdening himself to me of his thoughts about Haile Selassie, whom he denounced as a traitor to Ethiopia, a coward, and one unworthy to bear the title of Emperor after his flight into exile.

Educated in Switzerland, Germachew served as a diplomat after Haile Selassie's restoration in 1941, as well as being a noted author, whose works include the novel Araya and a play based on the life of the 19th century Ethiopian emperor Tewodros I.