A Statement from the Crown Council of Ethiopia
We are saddened to report a great loss to the Ethiopian royal family and to all friends of Ethiopia, the death of Lij Sebastianos Beyene (September 18, 1960 – July 25, 2021). Sebastian was the son of Lij Samson Beyene and Koremtit Andargachew. He was a great-grandson of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I through the emperor’s first-born daughter, Princess Romanework. Sebastian went to Entoto International and Sandford English School for elementary and junior high school. He was fortunate to be abroad during the revolution that overthrew the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, and he remained in exile in England for some time. He attended Kings School, Bruton, in Somerset, and took his A-levels in history and geography at Abigdon School, Oxford. He pursued a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, President of the Ethiopian Crown Council, was Sebastian’s roommate at Santa Barbara, and his close life-long friend. Recalling that friendship, Prince Ermias said, “Sebastian was such an important part of my life. We shared so much together, so many memories. So many parts of my life remained alive in him. So much of my life’s collective memory was held in his hands. We cannot fill the vacuum left by his death, but something good can come out of it. We can use his memory to remind us of all that we have lost, and to find strength for the healing that is still to come.”
We ask everyone to join us in remembering a departed friend, to join us in praying for him, and to join us in remembering all of the family we have lost in recent years.
