An English language major at the former HAILESELASSIE University in the 1960’s agreed that Yacob Woldemariam wrote flawless English but said “ it sounded Victorian to me !” I still don’t know what he meant by it but Yacob Woldemariam was the most prominent Ethiopian master of the global lingua franca of his generation! He was, because sadly he passed away a few days ago at the ripe age of 94 every hour of which he utilized productively!
Yacob inspired thousands of Ethiopians, including me, not just to learn English but to try and master it ! As an international language, the English language affords limitless access to scientific ,technological ,economic, social and political knowledge ,particularly since the miraculous advent of the internet ! Yacob Woldemariam appropriately worked and served as Editor-in-Chief of the English Language daily, The Ethiopian Herald, for a long time, leaving behind him a crop of budding journalists who are beginning to show the results of devoted and consistent hard work like him!
Yacob Woldemariam wrote on diverse social, political and economic issues, some of which were definitely controversial but all of which provided additional insight into the matters under discussion .He once praised the London-educated former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Endalkachew Mekonnen, as a man of “blue-blood pedigree” in the midst of the country’s so-called “socialist revolution”! This never failed to raise a considerable number of eyebrows! On the other hand, under the TPLF dictatorship, he mused about the famous Ethiopian patriot, Prof.Asrat Woldeyes ,” what is a medic doing in politics ?”
Whatever he wrote, Yacob was never short of ideas and never shied away from peaceful intellectual confrontation ! Above all, he wrote his ideas in immaculate “Victorian” English!
BY TEKELEBIRHAN GEBREMICHAEL
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD 27 AUGUST 2023
