House Solomonic dynasty Parents Princess Tenagnework | Name Sophia Desta | |
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Born 1 January 1933 (age 91) Ethiopian Empire ( 1933-01-01 ) Spouse Captain Dereje Haile Mariam Issue Woizero Hannah Mehreta Selassie Grandparents Haile Selassie, Menen Asfaw Similar People Princess Tenagnework, Aida Desta, Desta Damtew, Menen Asfaw, Haile Selassie | ||
Princess Sophia Desta is the youngest daughter of Ras Desta Damtew and Princess Tenagnework Haile Selassie, and granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. She is also the widow of Captain Dereje Haile Mariam, graduate of The Royal Sandhurst Academy in the U.K. She married him at Addis Ababa, on 31 January 1959 (in a double wedding with her sister Princess Seble-Wengel Desta. Captain Dereje Haile Mariam born in 1937 and he was killed at Addis Ababa, at the Genuete Luel Palace while defending the Emperor against a palace coup d'etat carried out by General Mengistu Newaye, head of the Imperial bodyguard on 16 December 1960. They had an only daughter:
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Princess Sophia Desta was imprisoned, mistreated and humiliated with other princesses of the Imperial Family from 1974 to 1988.