Ethiopian politician and diplomat (–)
This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by his given name, Seyoum, and not as Mesfin Gebredingel.
Seyoum Mesfin Gebredingel (SAY-yoom MEHS-fihn; Tigrinya: ሰዩም መስፍን, pronounced[säyuməmesefənə]ⓘ;[2] 25 January – 13 January ) was an Ethiopian politician and diplomat. He was Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs from to and served as Ethiopia's Ambassador to China from to
Seyoum was born on 25 January in Tigray, Ethiopia, as Ambaye Mesfin. He later changed from Ambaye to Seyoum as a nom de guerre.[3] He attended Agazi Secondary School in Adigrat and Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute from which he received a diploma in industrial chemistry in He studied international law at the University of Amsterdam. In May , he was awarded a doctorate of letters from Great Lakes University of Kisumu in Kenya.[4]
He was one of the founders of the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF).[5] Seyoum served as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in the s.[6] He was a member of the Marxist–Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) and composed songs to honor the organization.[7] On 23 March , Seyoum resigned from the TPLF Central Committee at its 11th meeting.[8]
Seyoum was the Ethiopian minister of foreign affairs for nearly 20&#;years, from until he was replaced after the parliamentary election. He was also an executive member of the Central Committee of the EPRDF.[9] He was influential in the Eritrean Ethiopian war and on 18 June , Seyoum Mesfin, and his Eritrean counterpart, Haile Woldetensae, signed a peace agreement ending the war.[10] On 28 December , Mesfin made a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on the policy in the region, in particular the relationship of Ethiopia to Eritrea and Somalia.[11] In , Seyoum indicated that Eritrea had breached the agreements that ended its war and Ethiopia might end all or part of those agreements.[12] He was also a member of the House of Peoples' Representatives, representing Adigrat.[13]
After leaving the government in , Seyoum was appointed Ambassador to China.[14] He visited Singapore in December to potentially set up an Ethio-Singapore Special Economy Zone and expand cooperation in aviation.[15]
In , Seyoum was the chief mediator of South Sudan's IGAD-mediated peace talks. He urged both sides to end hostilities and form a transitional government.[16] He launched the think tank Centre for Research, Dialogue & Cooperation (CRDC), a part of the Ministry of Education, on 12 April [17]
Seyoum was also chief executive officer of the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray from until early [18] Seyoum served as the Chairman for ten years until and was a member of the management board of Ethiopian Airlines.[19][20]
From –, Seyoum served as the African principal for the Carter Center's initiative to further Africa-U.S.-China cooperation. He co-chaired two international track dialogues featuring participants from the U.S, China, and various African countries in Johannesburg and Addis Ababa.[21] Seyoum co-chaired these dialogues with the Chinese principal for the initiative, Ambassador Zhong Jianhua. Seyoum had a close working relationship with Ambassador Zhong Jianhua, who was the former PRC Ambassador to Ethiopia and the Special Representative on African Affairs to the Chinese government.[22]
Seyoum was married and had four children - three sons and one daughter.[6] As of 14&#;January&#;[update], after Seyoum had been killed by the ENDF as part of the Tigray war, Seyoum's wife and one of his sons were on bail after having been arrested, according to British African expert Alex de Waal.[23]
According to the Ethiopian government, Seyoum was killed when his bodyguards and Ethiopian soldiers engaged in a shootout after he refused to surrender in the then ongoing Tigray War on 13 January [24] Two other TPLF officials were killed with him and five further TPLF officials were captured.[25] The TPLF claimed the veterans, including Seyoum, were summarily executed.[24] An obituary for Seyoum Mesfin, describing him as a "peacemaker and patriot", was published by Alex de Waal. De Waal called for an "immediate high-level international investigation" into the killings of Seyoum and the two TPLF officials.[23]