Abe Gubegna

ፓለቲካና ፓለቲከኞች (Politics and Politicians) is a play published in 1976 or 1977 after it was performed at the Hager Fikir Theatre the previous year. It is a satire depicting what the author saw as the opportunistic behaviour of leftist politicians.

Abe was in America when the Ethiopian Revolution began in 1974, an event he clearly supported. After returning to Ethiopia he became disillusioned and spoke out openly against the Derg. He began to drink heavily during his final years and lost much of his inspiration for writing. The reasons for his death in 1980 are unclear. Some sources refer to a pub brawl and others refer to him dying in a hotel room in mysterious circumstances. He left behind two daughters and a son.

In 1973 Abe attended the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. He was the third Ethiopian author to attend the program after Daniachew Worku and Solomon Deressa. Peter Nazareth, who participated in the program in the same year, recalled how Abe was hostile towards Americans because he saw their government as supporting the rule of Haile Selassie. Nazareth also recalled how Abe was confrontational towards other writers, including arguments with Kole Omotoso and Ashokamitran, and that he tried to strangle a female Japanese author. Ultimately, Nazareth believed that writers on the program began to fear Abe.

In 1968 Abe published አንድ ለናቱ (His Mother's Only Child) a 688-page novel based on the life of Emperor Tewodros II. Abe's interest in Tewodros was far from unique, with novels about the Emperor also written by Makonnen Endelkachew, Berhanu Zerihun and Sahle Sellassie Berhane Mariam.

In 1962 Abe published አልወለድም (I Will Not Be Born). The novel was banned and burnt after 800 copies were sold.

የሮም አወዳደቅ (The Fall of Rome) is Abe's first play, although it was never staged. It portrays how the nobility's extravagance and self-indulgence brings about the fall of Rome through their exploitation of the poor. The play was published two months before the attempted 1960 coup and was clearly written to mirror the Ethiopia that Abe saw under Haile Selassie.

Abe Gubegna was born in Korench Abo, Achefer woreda, near Bahir Dar. His mother was Yigardu Balay, and his father, Gubegna Ambaye, was a farmer. He was one of 11 children in the family. He went to church schools for 12 years, first in his village and then in Gojjam and Begemder. There he learnt Ge'ez and a style of poetry called qene. Abe then briefly served as an administrator in the church school in his own village, taking the title merigeta. He then attended a government school in Dangila before moving to Addis Ababa. It is unclear whether he completed his secondary education, but in 1958 or 1959 he began work as a journalist at the Ministry of Information before moving to the Ministry of Health.

Abe resigned from government service to try and make a living from writing. This was rare among Amharic writers, and most others maintained other jobs. Between 1956 and 1977 he published over 20 books and numerous newspaper articles. Many of his books sold well and Abe became well known, if controversial. Fellow author Mengistu Lemma regarded him as ‘a hard working writer who has the distinction of having authored the first best sellers in the history of modern Amharic literature’ but his earnings remained low, and he was often in debt. Eventually, he returned to Bahir Dar and started a wholesale textile business, but debts to his printers remained at the time of his death.

Abe Gubegna (Amharic: አቤ ጉበኛ; 1 July 1933 – 10 February 1980) was an Ethiopian writer. His name is sometimes spelled "Abbé" or "Abbie". He published eight novels, five plays, three collections of poetry, and translated several biographies of world leaders as well as other works. Abe mainly wrote in Amharic, but two of his books were written in English.