Tlahoun Gèssèssè 1940-2009
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Very sad news
Ethiopiques legend Tlahoun Gèssèssè died on 19 April 2009 in Addis Ababa as he was being taken to hospital by his wife. He had been in poor health for several years due to diabetes and had just returned to Ethiopia from the United States.
Born in Addis Ababa to an Amhara father and Oromo mother, Tlahoun was widely loved by both the major ethnic groups in the country. Howeverunlike other Ethiopiques greats he was was unable to take part in the recent concerts following the recent re-releases because of ill-health.
At the time of his death national television and radio broadcasts were interrupted to broadcast the news. On Thursday April 23 2009 a state funeral was held with about one million Ethiopians, including government officials, and entertainers, gathered in Mesquel Square.
He is survived by his wife and two children and will be missed by all.
Timjim 2009
Image: Steffen Wurzel – Creative Commons
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence
Bethelihem Tamene on Tue, 29th Sep 2009 2:57 pm
Tilahun has more that 2 children and it is not fair to mention that he is survived by his two kids only.
asa on Tue, 26th Jan 2010 2:53 pm
Hi, great site, but a couple of small remarks maybe? The photo of Tlahoun Gessesse is Alemayehu Eshete. Cheers, Asa (Edited)
Timjim on Thu, 28th Jan 2010 10:41 am
The picture was taken from Wikipedia, so if this is incorrect please replace it there and then let me know.
With regards to the children, was taken from ‘official press release’ so thanks for the comment with the unofficial version.