Professor Asrat Woldeyes was born in Addis Ababa on June 20, 1928. When professor Asrat was nine years old his father was murdered along with thousands of other civilians in Addis Ababa on February 19, 1937 during the Italian invasion.  His mother died shortly after, due to the grief over her husband’s death. His grandfather, one of the Ethiopian patriots who gallantly fought the colonial aggression, raised Professor Asrat.

     Dr. Asrat attended Tafari Mekonnen High school (TMHS). Upon graduating from TMHS he was sent to Egypt to continue his education at Victoria College, then to England where he studied medicine at Edinburgh University. After  completing his training in 1956, Professor Asrat Woldeyes returned to work as general practitioner in Ethiopia. After a few years of services in Ethiopia, he went back to Edinburgh University to specialize surgery.  He returned back home in 1965 to help with the creation of the first medical school at Haile Sellassie University (now Addis Ababa University).                                                                        

    Professor Asrat Woldeyes diligently served as a faculty member and as the dean for the medical school of Addis Ababa University.  He pioneered medical education in Ethiopia and became an internationally renowned surgeon. Professor Asrat was the founding member of the Ethiopian Medical Association, fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Scotland, member of the British Medical Association, the  East African Surgical Association and International College of Surgeons (USA).

     Professor Asrat Woldeyes was one of the most distinguished Ethiopian public servants. He served his people equally without looking at their economic class, ethnic background or religious affiliation.

He saved thousands of lives as an accomplished surgeon and a proud father.  Professor Asrat had never been tempted to use his skill and

knowledge to enrich himself as many of his compatriots did in Ethiopia. He was not one of those medical doctors who set up private clinics to enrich their wealth holdings.  Had that been the case while he was alive he could have been one of the Ethiopian millionaires. As an advocate of the poor and underprivileged, Professor Asrat was the president of All-Amhara Peoples Organization (AAPO), a group that denounced violence as a tool of political change. He was the strongest critic of the current government of Ethiopia policies that called for the establishment of autonomous region established along linguistic and ethnic lines. As a result, the government imprisoned him on trump up charges of encouraging armed insurrection in two speeches he had given.

     While he was in jail, he became what on Washington Post op-ed piece called “Ethiopia’s most popular public figure and symbol of democracy”. The 1996 piece, by David E. Steinman, went on to say that Dr. Woldeyes would “probably be president of Ethiopia today had not Meles imprisoned him before free and fair election”. Amnesty International championed Professor Wodeyes’s cause, calling him a prisoner of conscience who should be released immediately.

     In 1998, after being released from prison, he suffered from health complication and died on May 14, 1999 at University of Pennsylvania.

SEED salutes Dr. Asrat Waldeyes (posthumously): As a distinguished Surgeon and role model to Ethiopians and others, in appreciation of the rich and positive contributions he has left behind by exemplifying the highest ideals and standards of our community, in recognition of his academic and scientific excellence, as co-founder of the first Medical College in Ethiopia, in acknowledgement of his struggle for human rights, civic responsibilities and demonstrated love of country.