#Princess Sara Gizaw

[tiaramania]

Princess Sara Gizaw of Ethiopia’s Diamond Tiara

You may remember last year I tried to research tiaras that belonged to the Ethiopian Imperial Family but I didn’t get very far because there is basically no information out there about them.  Then about a month ago Seth B. Leonard posted a photo on Twitter of Princess Sara Gizaw with Archduchess Rosemary of Austria-Tuscany most likely at Margrave Maximilian and Margravine Valerie of Baden’s wedding ball in 1966 and I had a moment because it was by far the best picture I’ve ever seen of her in a tiara.

Previously I’d only seen her wearing this tiara in the background of a photo taken during Queen Elizabeth II’s state visit to Ethiopia in 1965 and with the better picture I realized that she was also wearing part of the tiara as a necklace during Emperor Haile Selassie’s Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1955.  I couldn’t get over the feeling that I had seen the tiara before but I searched and couldn’t find anything then today after I stopped looking it came up as the first thing in my Pinterest feed.

The tiara was sold at Sotheby’s in 2008 for 56,250 CHF.  It is convertible to a necklace and can be separated into nine parts including a pair of earrings and two dress clips.  It came in a case from Asprey which doesn’t necessarily mean that they made it but it’s generally a good indication.

Here it is as a necklace above and then an close up of the tiara below.  The more I look at it the more I become convinced that they are the same piece.

If this is Princess Sara Gizaw’s tiara it brings up the question what happened to the Ethiopian Imperial Family’s jewels?  The family was imprisoned in 1974 and those that survived were released in 1989 and 1990.  I assumed that the Derg confiscated the jewelry, broke it up, and sold it but this tiara still existing suggests otherwise.  It’s possible that this piece was in a bank vault in another country so the Derg didn’t have access to it and Sara was able to sell if after she was released.  If the Derg sold the jewelry whole I would think there would be a record of it.  I mean it was in the 1970s not the 1770s.  It’s just frustrating that there are fifty kajillion books about what happened to the Russian Imperial Family’s jewelry but not even a single article about what happened to the jewelry that belonged to the Ethiopian Imperial Family.  Anyway, I’m very excited to have found what I am almost positive is a tiara that belonged to an Ethiopian royal!

[beautyintheblackness]

#AfricanRoyalty  || The Queen 

Empress Zewditu I (also spelled Zawditu or Zauditu; Ge'ez ዘውዲቱ; 29 April 1876 – 2 April 1930) was Empress of Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930. (First 2 photos).

Madam Yoko or Mammy Yoko (ca. 1849–1906) was a leader of the Mende people in Sierra Leone.

Amina (also Aminatu; d. 1610) was a Hausa warrior queen of the city-state Zazzau (present-day city of Zaria in Kaduna State), in what is now in the north-west region of Nigeria She is the subject of many legends, but is believed by historians to have been a real ruler. There are controversies among scholars as to the era of her reign; one school placing her in the mid-15th century, and a second placing her reign in the mid to late 16th century.

Queen Anna Nzinga (Ana de Sousa Nzinga Mbande), was a 17th-century queen of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms of the Mbundu people in Angola.

Princess Sara Gizaw, Dowager Duchess of Harar was the widow of Prince Makonnen, Duke of Harar and second son of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

Her Imperial Majesty, Catherine Denguiadé (The Empress of the Central African Empire at her husband’s accession to the throne), (born 7 Aug 1949, Fort-Archambault (present day Sarh, Chad).

Ranavalona III (November 22, 1861 – May 23, 1917) was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar. She ruled from July 30, 1883 to February 28, 1897 in a reign marked by ongoing and ultimately futile efforts to resist the colonial designs of the government of France.

Ranavalona I (1778-1861),The Queen of Madagascar, considered the “Mad Queen of Madagascar” due to her preferential method of amassing her thirty thousand-strong army to force peasants who were behind on their taxes to take up arms, build public works, and work without pay as a way to repay their debts.

[sisterwolf]

Princess Sara Gizaw Duchess of Harrar, widow of Prince Makonnen, Duke of Harrar and second son of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

[phillipwilby]

Sara Gizaw, Ethiopian aristocrat, Died at 90

Sara Gizaw, Ethiopian aristocrat, Died at 90

Princess Sara was born on January 1, 1929, and died on Febuary 15, 2019, in Addis Ababa.

She was an Ethiopian aristocrat.

Sara Gizaw father was Gizaw Abera, he is a former Nibure Id of Axum.

Sara’s paternal grandfather was Dejazmach Abera Tedla.

Gizaw received her education at the Royal Infirmary Nursing School of Edinburgh.

Gizaw had five sons, Paul Wossen Seged Makonnen, Mikael Makonnen,…

[tiaramania]

Ethiopian Royal Tiaras

Lately I’ve been researching the tiaras of the former Ethiopian Imperial Family and there are quite a few tiaras that I’ve never seen before.  If you’ve been following me a while you may have heard me say that I’ve really been trying to expand my coverage of non-European tiaras because there are so many great tiaras out there but it is much more difficult to find pictures and especially information about them.  As I expected, I can’t find enough information to make posts for more than a couple them and those will be heavy on pictures and light on info but I still wanted to share these tiaras with you.

This is Empress Menen Asfaw’s most worn tiara and it is stunning.

Here are some of her other tiaras

Princess Tenagnework - She’s Emperor Haile Selassie and Empress Menen Asfaw’s oldest daughter and she acted as first lady after her mother passed away.

Princess Yeshashwork, Princess Sara Gizaw, and Princess Tsehai

Princess Aida Desta and Princess Seble Desta

Some princesses I haven’t been able to identify

And here’s a video of Emperor Haile Selassie’s Silver Jubilee in 1955 so you can see some of the tiaras in action.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Princess Sara Gizaw, Duchess of Harar (1 January 1929 – 17 February 2019) was the widow of Prince Makonnen, Duke (Mesfin) of Harar and second son of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

Princess Sara Gizaw of Ethiopia’s Diamond Tiara

You may remember last year I tried to research tiaras that belonged to the Ethiopian Imperial Family but I didn’t get very far because there is basically no information out there about them.  Then about a month ago Seth B. Leonard posted a photo on Twitter of Princess Sara Gizaw with Archduchess Rosemary of Austria-Tuscany most likely at Margrave Maximilian and Margravine Valerie of Baden’s wedding ball in 1966 and I had a moment because it was by far the best picture I’ve ever seen of her in a tiara.

Previously I’d only seen her wearing this tiara in the background of a photo taken during Queen Elizabeth II’s state visit to Ethiopia in 1965 and with the better picture I realized that she was also wearing part of the tiara as a necklace during Emperor Haile Selassie’s Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1955.  I couldn’t get over the feeling that I had seen the tiara before but I searched and couldn’t find anything then today after I stopped looking it came up as the first thing in my Pinterest feed.

The tiara was sold at Sotheby’s in 2008 for 56,250 CHF.  It is convertible to a necklace and can be separated into nine parts including a pair of earrings and two dress clips.  It came in a case from Asprey which doesn’t necessarily mean that they made it but it’s generally a good indication.

Here it is as a necklace above and then an close up of the tiara below.  The more I look at it the more I become convinced that they are the same piece.

If this is Princess Sara Gizaw’s tiara it brings up the question what happened to the Ethiopian Imperial Family’s jewels?  The family was imprisoned in 1974 and those that survived were released in 1989 and 1990.  I assumed that the Derg confiscated the jewelry, broke it up, and sold it but this tiara still existing suggests otherwise.  It’s possible that this piece was in a bank vault in another country so the Derg didn’t have access to it and Sara was able to sell if after she was released.  If the Derg sold the jewelry whole I would think there would be a record of it.  I mean it was in the 1970s not the 1770s.  It’s just frustrating that there are fifty kajillion books about what happened to the Russian Imperial Family’s jewelry but not even a single article about what happened to the jewelry that belonged to the Ethiopian Imperial Family.  Anyway, I’m very excited to have found what I am almost positive is a tiara that belonged to an Ethiopian royal!