Ale Felege Selam Heruy

Ale Felege Selam Heruy (1924–2016) was born into a family of artists from Fiche in central Ethiopia. His grandfather, Heruy Wolde Giorgis, was one of the leading painters of the reign of Menelik II (1889–1913). Heruy’s sons, Felege Selam Heruy and Emaelaf Heruy, also became artists, and Emaelaf Heruy is regarded as one of the first Ethiopian modernists. In 1949 Emperor Haile Selassie I (r. 1930–1974) awarded Ale Felege Selam a scholarship to study abroad, and in 1954 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Returning to Ethiopia the same year, he joined the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts. In 1957, on his initiative, the first School of Fine Arts opened in Addis Ababa; he directed it until 1975.