The educational links between the Jesuits and Ethiopia reach back 70 years, yet they are as fresh today as ever. The ancient kingdom-turned-democracy, a cradle of human civilization, is represented on the LMU campus by TSEHAI Publishers.
And as LMU has provided a home for TSEHAI, the publishing house has brought international attention to the university through its imprints the African Academic Press, Chereka Books, most recently Harriet Tubman Press, and TSEHAI Films. Additionally, Elias Wondimu, publisher and founder of TSEHAI, has received numerous awards to honor the reach and impact of the books and recordings from the publishing house. An added distinction is that since Howard University Press closed, TSEHAI is the only press on an American university campus founded and run by an African.
“While the diversity of global knowledge production is diminishing with the merger and acquisition of independent presses by the few media conglomerates, it is institutions like LMU with its Jesuit and Marymount tradition of justice that stood tall to live up to its commitment to knowledge diversity, equity in intellectual property and inclusion in the global knowledge sphere,” said Wondimu. “As we renew our commitment of institutional collaboration and student education for the coming decades, LMU will continue to lead the global discourse and be recognized as the global leader in the knowledge industry.”
TSEHAI Publishers has produced more than 150 books and regularly publishes the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies that has become the go-to journal for innovative and original studies on Ethiopian history, society, politics, culture, and on the interactions between Ethiopian and Western intellectual traditions. The publications of TSEHAI have now become an indispensable part of Ethiopian Studies and have gained a wide readership.
In 1950, at the behest of Emperor Haile Selassie, Lucien Matte, a member of the Society of Jesus, and other Jesuits, notably Pierre Gouin and Claude Sumner, founded, organized, and administered the first ever modern higher institution of learning in Ethiopia: the University College of Addis Ababa, later the Haile Selassie I University, which became a leading institution for graduate studies in Africa, attracting many African students.
TSEHAI Publishers was founded in 1997 and named in honor of Wondimu’s mother Tsehai, who passed away in Ethiopia that same year. It was started to fill a void in the American book market for African books, especially those written by Africans. He moved the enterprise to LMU in 2007.
Wondimu once aspired to become a surgeon, but he was moved by the injustices he saw in his country to begin work as a journalist, activist, and political advocate through the weekly newspaper Moged. While attending the 12th International Ethiopian Studies conference at Michigan State University in 1994, Wondimu went into exile in the United States. Dedicated to filling the global knowledge gap about Africa, Wondimu holds several leadership positions in educational and political arenas: founding board member of the Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund, a senior fellow of the International Strategic Studies Association, founding editor of the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies and a contributing editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books, among several other roles. Wondimu has appeared on national and international media outlets like NPR, BBC, ETV, the Economist, the L.A. Times, the Ethiopian Herald and more.
Wondimu, with LMU leadership including President Timothy Snyder, received the Victory of Adwa Centenary Medal at the ninth annual Victory of Adwa Commemoration and Award ceremony in Washington, D.C.; in 2018, he was honored with a Hidden Heroes Award by the CSJ Community and its LMU Center for Reconciliation and Justice. Among several awards, Wondimu also received the Bikila Professional Excellence Award in Toronto, Canada; received a recognition from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; congressional recognition from Rep. Maxine Waters and Rep. Karen Bass; and a proclamation certificate from the Crown Council of Ethiopia in recognition of TSEHAI’s 20th anniversary. In Atlanta, Georgia, he was celebrated at the first Ethiopian Honorary Art Award and Commemoration ceremony; He was also appointed ambassador for peace by the Universal Peace Federation and the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace; and in 2021, he was given the prestigious Bego Sew Award in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for his significant contributions to Ethiopia.
In May 2023, the Society of Ethiopians Established in the Diaspora, or SEED, will honor TSEHAI and Wondimu in its 30th anniversary gala, which is dubbed “The Mighty Diaspora” in Washington, D.C., in “acknowledgement of the rich and positive contributions” he has made by exemplifying the higher ideals and standards of the Ethiopian community, in recognition of his many efforts to defend the pride and dignity of Ethiopia and Ethiopians, and for TSEHAI’s support of the national reading projects and library expansion in Ethiopia.
“Even though it is a less-known fact, Ethiopia and Jesuit connection goes back to the 16th century, when Ethiopia became the first country where Ignatius Loyola sent the Jesuit mission outside of Europe,” said Wondimu. “This time, rather than repeating old misunderstandings, our strategic collaboration is working to create a better world formed by our understanding of our common humanity and contribution to the global society.”
