Tesfaye Gebre Kidan

Tesfaye Gebre Kidan Geletu (Amharic: ተስፋዬ ገብረ ኪዳን ገለቱ, romanized: Täsfaye Gäbrä Kidan Gälätu, c. 1935 – 4 June 2004) was an Ethiopian general who was the acting president of Ethiopia for one week in late May 1991.

Tesfaye's death was publicly confirmed on 4 June 2004.

In the book I noti ospiti, a waiter claimed that on June 2, 2004, Tesfaye was struck on the head with a bottle by his fellow refugee (and former Foreign Minister) Berhanu Bayeh, causing him to bleed. He was taken to Menelik II Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

He was appointed as Vice President of Ethiopia in April 1991. He became acting president on 21 May 1991 when Mengistu fled as Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) forces closed in on the capital.

Tesfaye took over a regime in a state of utter collapse. He only ruled for a week before the EPRDF marched into Addis Ababa and seized power on 27 May 1991. "Government troops turned on one another," read one contemporary account. "Soldiers wantonly looted state property." Tesfaye realized almost as soon as he took power that he was in an untenable position. With the EPRDF closing in on Addis Ababa from all sides, Tesfaye informed the U.S. chargé d'affaires in Addis Ababa that he could no longer control the situation and had lost command of what was left of the army. After announcing a unilateral cease-fire he fled for the safety of the Italian Embassy. According to Paul B. Henze, Tesfaye had first sought sanctuary at the US embassy, but Ambassador Robert Houdek turned him away.

Elevated to the rank of Lt. General, Tesfaye Gebre Kidan went on to serve as the longtime Minister of Defence, then on 14 May 1988 was made military governor and general commander in Eritrea. He was recalled to Addis Ababa from Asmara to serve on the military tribunal, which tried the high-ranking officers who had tried to depose President Mengistu in 1989 following the decisive defeat at the Battle of Shire.