Gäbre-Heywät Baykädañ

Gäbre-Heywät Baykädañ (1886 - 1919) was an Ethiopian, European educated intellectual and reformer that promoted the marriage of modernity and Ethiopian tradition, detailed in his published treatise on Government and Public Administration. He served as the palace treasurer and head of customs under the reign of Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II.

Biography

Early life

Gäbre-Heywät Baykädañ was born to Ras Makonmen (his father) in Adwa, but was raised by a Swedish mission in Eritrea. Influenced by his father's fascination with Japan's commitment and success in modernisation, Heywät formed a predilection for capitalism and its capacity as a means to economic development. After the completion of his secondary studies, Heywät went on to study in both Germany and Austria. After working for a period in Germany, he was soon recruited to work as an interpreter for a German diplomatic mission to Addis Ababa. Through this expedition, Heywät developed a close relationship with Menelik II prior to the latter's ascension.[1][2]

Ethiopian Governance

Becoming an important member of Menelik's entourage, Heywät served as a senior counsel and advised on and was a strong proponent of Ethiopia's modernisation. Specifically, Heywät sought to integrate Ethiopia into the global economy while maintaining Ethiopia's cultural and political integrity. Deeply concerned with the state of the Ethiopian economy, and understanding the economic importance of a productive middle class, Heywät pushed for structural social, political, and economic reform, which are partially reflected in efforts to remove unjust taxation and patrimonialism, while bureaucratic rationalism, the prohibition of slavery, and the elimination of noble privileges were promoted. Heywät exerted a considerable degree of influence over Menlik's making of policy, which was compounded by the influence of other senior policymakers that were informally grouped as the 'Young Japanisers' - a loose grouping that sought to replicate Japan's industrialisation, which included the likes of Heruy Wolde Selassie. A lead advocate of industrialisation, Heywät's publication of Government and Public Administration advised the emperor to 'follow the example of the Japanese government' or 'be enslaved'. Following Menelik's death and the 1916 coup, he was first appointed controller of the (French built) railways and later collector of customs in Dérre Dawa, where he died.[3][4]

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References
  1. Salvadore, Matteo (December 1, 2007). "A Modern African Intellectual: Gäbre-Heywät Baykädañ's Quest For Ethiopia's Sovereign Modernity". Africa: Rivista Trimestrale di Studi e Documentazione Dell'Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. 62 (4): 560–579. JSTOR 25734471.
  2. Whyte, Christine (March 24, 2014). "'Everyone Knows that Laws Bring the Greatest Benefits to Mankind': The Global and Local Origins of Anti-Slavery in Abyssinia, 1880–1942". Slavery & Abolition. 35 (4): 652–669. doi:10.1080/0144039X.2014.895137.
  3. Salvadore, 2007
  4. Whyte, 2014
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