Amhara Governorate was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. Its capital was Gondar. It was formed in 1936 from parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. It had a population of more than 2 million inhabitants (In 1940 11,200 were Italians settlers, mostly in the capital Gondar). In November 1938 some territory of Amhara in the Scioa region was given to the neighboring Addis Abeba Governorate, enlarging it to the Scioa Governorate.

Amhara Governorate
Governatorato di Amara
Governorate of Italian East Africa
Coat of Arms of Amhara Governorate
Coat of Arms

Amhara (blue) within Italian East Africa
CapitalGondar
Population 
• 
ca. 2,000,000
Government
Governor 
• 1936–1937
Alessandro Pirzio Biroli
• 1937–1939
Ottorino Mezzetti [it]
• 1937–1941
Luigi Frusci
• 1941
Guglielmo Nasi
Historical eraInterwar period
World War II
• Created
1 June 1936
27 November 1941
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Ethiopian Empire
Ethiopian Empire

The region was a stronghold of fierce Ethiopian resistance against the Italians. By 1940, the last areas of guerilla activity was around Lake Tana and southern Gojjam, under the leadership of the degiac Mengesha Gembere and Belay Zeleke.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ Barker 1968, pp. 281, 300.

Bibliography edit

  • Antonicelli, Franco (1961) Trent'anni di storia italiana 1915–1945, Saggi series 295, Torino : Einaudi, 387 p. [in Italian]
  • Barker, A. J. (1968). The Civilising Mission: The Italo-Ethiopian War 1935–6. London: Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-93201-6.
  • Del Boca, Angelo (1986) Italiani in Africa Orientale: La caduta dell'Impero, Biblioteca universale Laterza 186, Roma : Laterza, ISBN 88-420-2810-X [in Italian]
  • Mockler, Anthony (1984). Haile Selassie's War: The Italian-Ethiopian Campaign, 1935–1941, New York : Random House, ISBN 0-394-54222-3

See also edit