Descendants of Ethiopia’s brave resistance against European imperialism are trying to recover a gold medal stolen by Italian forces after the current owner of the artefact failed to sell it in an online auction earlier this month.
A solid gold Imperial Order of Ethiopia star in the possession of Ras Desta Damtew, the son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie and the leader of the guerrilla army, whose capture and execution in 1937 marked the end of resistance to fascist Ethiopia. occupation of Italy
Their whereabouts were largely unknown until this November, when the star brooch resurfaced on the live electronic platform, where it was sold for an estimate of €60,000-90,000 (£50,000-£74,000) by the Lausanne-registered company La Galerie Numismatique. .
The website’s listing nor did he hide the controversy of its provenance, as if it had been “from the estate of an Italian soldier at the capture of the prince.” [Desta Damtew]”.
“The first feeling was anger because they claimed so vehemently that they had been kidnapped by someone,” said Laly Kassa, one of Desta Damtew’s nieces. “He was so outstanding that we just felt as a family, we had to prove something.”
The family say that, when approached by their lawyer, La Galerie Numismatique initially rejected the request for restitution, offering to sell the coin for €61,595, including buyer’s premium and VAT.
At the auction on December 1, the brooch did not meet the minimum price required to win the bid, however, and its current owner, a collector of British memorabilia based in Spain, entered into direct talks with Patron Damtew’s family. . Reached for comment, La Galerie Numismatique did not respond.
What is most significant about the medal, according to James De Lorenzi, the John Jay Associate Professor of History at the New York College of Criminal Justice, is that its removal from Ethiopia can be directly linked to an alleged war crime.
Damtew, who decided to fight the Italian invasion while Selassie fled his country in exile to England in 1936, was captured on February 24, 1937 after the battle at Mount Gurage and then by a group of Ethiopian warriors led by Italian commanders.
In 1948, the Ethiopian government denounced 10 Italian citizens before the UNWCC (UNWCC), presenting documents describing the massacre of Damtew after he was captured during the war. This evidence led the UNWCC to order 10 Italians either accused or suspected of war.
The medal thus given by the agent of the fascist regime, who was directly involved in this war crime, contradicts the broader one that involves mass killings, violence, torture, and arbitrary detention, said De Lorenzi. “This provenance, returning the medal to Ethiopia is the only responsible choice.”
While the Emperor’s Order of the Star of Ethiopia would not be the first valuable artifact to be returned to the East Africa in the coming years, it will probably generate a new study in which the Italian possessions that were depopulated, also called Abyssinia, between 1935 and 1941.
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31. The Paris Peace Agreement of 1947 stipulated that Italy, within 18 months, “removed all works of Ethiopian art, religion, objects, archives and objects of historical value from Ethiopia to Italy after October 3, 1935.” But besides the state of Italy 2005 return of a 1,700-year-old stone monument called the Ax obeliskItalian organizations and individuals generally could not follow the demand.
Ras a royal title with “leader” – Desta Damtew was a member of the aristocracy that ruled the Ethiopian Empire in the Middle Ages. The royal rule of the country in the Horn of Africa is characterized by extreme economic inequalities, which fueled the revolution that led to the overthrow of the monarchy in 1974.
Damtew’s granddaughter, Laly Kassa, said that her descendants were “unequivocal” that the medal should not be held privately in case of restitution. “If we can get the medal back, it will go to a museum,” he said. “We want it to be on permanent display at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa.”
Despite his royal connections, Desta Damtew is revered as an icon of African resistance to colonialism, even in the Socialist Republic of Ethiopia, and in solidarity movements throughout the black world.
Italy first tried to claim Abyssinia as a protectorate in the late 19th century, but was largely defeated by the Ethiopians: Damtew’s father, Fitawrari Damtew Ketena, fell in the climactic battle of Adwa in March 1896, which is remembered as a defining moment. He was deceived by the African.
In 1935, however, Ethiopia became what US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s foreign policy advisor Sumner Welles called “the first victim of an Axis attack,” when Italy invaded from neighboring Eritrea.