Occupation academic, politician Children one son, one daughter | Name Kinfe Abraham Died November 8, 2007 | |
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Born 20 October 1950 Adwa, Ethiopia Alma mater Haile Selassie University Title President of the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development Books Politics of Black nationalism Education Addis Ababa University, Uppsala University | ||
Kinfe Abraham (20 October 1950 – 8 November 2007) was an Ethiopian academic and politician. He was president of the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development, as well as president of Horn of Africa Democracy and Development.
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Personal life
Kinfe Abraham was born in Adwa to an Ethiopian-Jewish family. He attended Haile Selassie University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1971. Shortly afterwards, Abraham left for the Netherlands, where he did his graduate work. He received a master's in industrial management at the Research Institute for Management Science in 1973. Upon returning to Ethiopia, he worked for the International Labour Organization. Shortly after the Derg assumed power, he left for Sweden accepting an international post with the Swedish International Development Agency, where he worked for the next 10 years. Kinfe received his PhD from Uppsala University in Sweden and UCLA in 1982, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1983.
Career
Abraham afterwards held a number of positions at the United Nations and in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. He concentrated on foreign policy issues of interest to Ethiopia, serving in the mid-nineties as the Ethiopian Prime Minister's Special Envoy to Somalia as well as to the African Great Lakes region. He also acted as a mediator in Sudan.
The Universal Federation of Peace and the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace honored Abraham as Ambassador for Peace at a ceremony held at Sheraton Alexandria (Virginia) in the United States. Abraham was nominated and selected for this great honor on the basis of his firm dedication to the peaceful settlement of conflicts as indispensable contributors to economic growth, development and democracy as exemplified by his involvement in various peace efforts and the embodiment of his scholarly contributions to African studies and developmental issues.
He died after a brief illness, and was survived by his wife, one son and one daughter. He was described by the Africa World Journal as one of the leading thinkers of Africa.