Tadesse Gemeda

Key Information

Physical Description

Adult man in 1972–1974. From Nedjo, Wellega; grandson of Oda. Spoke English fluently — uncommon at the time — and was a professional driver, working as field assistant and driver to a British research team. Anyone who knew an English-speaking driver from Nedjo working with foreign researchers in the Dime area in the early 1970s may remember him.

Circumstances

Tadesse Gemeda came to Dime, South West Ethiopia, from Nedjo in Wellega, travelling with the research team of Dr. David M. Todd, a British anthropologist who conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork among the Dime people between 1972 and 1974. For two years, Tadesse worked as a field assistant to Dr. Todd and his team. In 1974, during Ethiopia's political transition from the rule of Emperor Haile Selassie to the Derg, the research team left Dime — and Tadesse left with them. His wife, Fanaye Lakew Gezahagn, was pregnant with their son at the time. Tadesse assured her he would return to Dime when the situation improved. He never did. His son, Tarekegn, was born after his departure and has never met his father. Tarekegn has searched for fifty years. He located Dr. Todd's PhD dissertation at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University and contacted the University of Kent — but found no trace of his father, not even in the acknowledgements. In his own words: "Staying together for two years truly creates wonderful memories and a friendship, but how come there isn't even a line of evidence about Tadesse?" What is known of Tadesse comes from his wife, who preserved his name throughout her life, and from his close friend Masresha Ayele Turulo: he was from Wellega (Nedjo), his grandfather's name was Oda, and he was proficient in driving and speaking English. No photograph of Tadesse is known to exist. His son's photograph accompanies this record in the hope that a family resemblance may prompt recognition. Anyone from Nedjo, anyone connected to the family of his grandfather Oda, or anyone who remembers the research team that worked in Dime between 1972 and 1974, may hold the answer this family has sought for fifty years.