Yaqob Beyene
Yaqob Beyene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 8 January 1936 Maiberazio, Ethiopian Empire |
| Died | 8 May 2025 (aged 89) Roccadaspide, Italy |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse | Paola Raeli |
| Children | 2 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Naples "L'Orientale" |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Ethiopian studies |
| Sub-discipline | |
| Institutions | University of Naples "L'Orientale" |
Yaqob Beyene (8 January 1936 – 8 May 2025) was an Ethiopian translator, scholar and academic who lived and worked in Italy.
Career
Born in Maiberazio, near Adigrat in 1936,[1][2] to a Catholic family of Tigrinya and Saho ethnicity, he briefly attempted an ecclesiastical career at the Ethiopian College of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians, Vatican City, where he specialized in philosophy and psychology.[1]
In 1963, Lanfranco Ricci sent him to the University of Naples "L'Orientale",[1] where he studied the Tigrinya language. He translated the four-volume Maṣḥafa Mesṭir (The Book of Mystery), originally written by Giyorgis of Segla.[1][2][3]
Yaqob went on to become professor of Tigrinya, Amharic and Ge'ez at L'Orientale. A founding member of ISMEO (International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies), his main interests were Tigrinya language and literature, history, and theology.[1][2]
Personal life and death
Yaqob was married to Italian teacher Paola Raeli of Capaccio Paestum, with whom he first settled in Roccadaspide and later in Capaccio Scalo; they had two children together.[4] He died at the Roccadaspide hospital[4] in May 2025, at the age of 89.[1][2][4]
Selected works
Books
- L'unzione di Cristo nella teologia etiopica: contributo di ricerca su nuovi documenti etiopici inediti (1981)
Translations
- Storia d'Etiopia (1987)
- Il libro del mistero (Mashafa mestir), vol. 1 (1990)
- Il libro del mistero (Mashafa mestir), vol. 2 (1993)
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Prof. Yaqob Beyene (January 8th 1936 – May 8th 2025)". ISMEO.
- ^ a b c d "Ci ha lasciati il prof. Yaqob Beyene, maestro di lingue e culture etiopiche" (in Italian). University of Naples "L'Orientale". 9 May 2025. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
- ^ "Segnalazioni/Libri ricevuti" (PDF). ethnorema.it (in Italian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
- ^ a b c Scandizzo, Bartolo (8 May 2025). "Yaqob Beyene, il professore venuto da lontano, ci ha lasciato". Unico (in Italian). Retrieved 15 February 2026.