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Menelik II

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Monarch

The Resume

    (August 17, 1844-December 12, 1913)
    Born in Angolalla, Ethiopia
    Birth name was Sahle Maryam
    Negus of Shewa (1866-89)
    Emperor of Ethiopia (1889-1913)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was married three times, divorced twice.
    He fathered at least three children out of wedlock.
    He banned slavery with an exception for prisoners of war, then captured thousands of slaves during his campaign to conquer southern Ethiopia.
    He would eat pages from the Bible to restore his health and allegedly died after eating the entire Book of Kings following a stroke. (Apparently, the inks in the illustrations were toxic.)

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was fluent in English, French and Italian, as well as his native Amharic.
    He led the Ethiopians in their defeat of an invading Italian army at the Battle of Adwa (March 1, 1896).
    As a result, Ethiopia was one of the few African nations not conquered by Europeans during the 'Scramble for Africa.'
    He wrote to Queen Victoria, 'I have no intention of being an indifferent spectator if the distant Powers hold the idea of dividing up Africa.'
    He launched a modernization campaign that introduced Ethiopia's first hospital, public school, bank, railroad, telegraph and telephone lines, and postal system.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 32 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 32 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying