Princess Tenagnework - Imprisonment

Imprisonment

Princess Tenagnework and the rest of the imperial family were arrested on 11 September 1974, the day before Emperor Haile Selassie was formally deposed by the Derg. The women of the imperial family were kept at Akaki Prison, also known as "Alem Bekagn" which translates to "I have had enough of this world". On 24 November 1974, the Dergue executed sixty-one former officials of the imperial government without trial. Among the many relatives, friends and associates of the Princess to die at this time, was her remaining son, Rear Admiral Prince Iskinder (Alexander) Desta.

The Princess was allowed a final visit with her father only a few days before his death in August 1975. That same year her daughter Mary Abebe Retta died, as did her niece Princess Ijigayehu Asfaw Wossen. Her husband, Ras Andargatchew Messai, who had been outside Ethiopia when the monarchy fell, died after a long illness in London a few years later (August 1981).

After an imprisonment of fifteen years, the women of the imperial family were freed in 1989. A year later, the imprisoned males of the family were also released. After living in Addis Ababa quietly for a little over a year, Princess Tenagnework and a few of the other members of the imperial family were allowed to depart into exile. Princess Tenagnework travelled to London and from there joined her only surviving brother, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen in the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC.