Born Yèwèbdar Guèbrou on 12 December 1923 in Addis Ababa, into a literary family, Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou in no way belongs to an azmari, or troubadour, heritage but was initially part of Ethiopian high society, a mix of imperial nobility, distinguished civil servants, courtesans and opportunists - a hotbed of power and intrigue, intelligence and glamour. Like her father before her, she was educated in Switzerland where she first learned piano and violin. She returned to Ethiopia in 1933 but in May 1936 Mussolini’s troops occupied Addis Ababa and in early 1937, the young Yèwèbdar and all her family were deported to Italy - several members of this illustrious family had already gone underground to join the resistance against the fascist occupiers.
In Cairo after the war, and under the tutelage of Polish violinist, Alexander Kontorowicz, she was again able to take up her musical studies but, suffering from the stifling heat of the Egyptian capital, Yèwèbdar returned to Ethiopia in 1944. Alexander Kontorowicz made the same journey. This is not insignificant, since Emperor Haile Sellassie immediately
appointed him as his Musical Director, entrusting Kontorowicz with the reorganisation of the Imperial Body Guard Band and with responsibility for organising concert evenings at the Palace. Kontorowicz stands out as one of the foreign teachers who most influenced the development of modern music in Ethiopia.
The Emperor, however, upset that one of his sons wanted to become Yèwèbdar’s benefactor and sponsor her piano studies in England, vetoed this project and Yèwèbdar sank into a deep depression. Her health declined to the point that she was administered the last rites. From then on she withdrew from the world and, in September 1948, secretly fled the capital to become a nun where she took the name Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam. But her health could not survive monastic life, so she agreed to teach in an Addis orphanage and was there able to take up music again. She made several recordings, the proceeds of which were always donated to the poor.
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