Survivor of the Infamous 9/11 Attack by ‘al-Qaeda’ at the World Trade Center in New York City, USA in 2001, Prof. Elizabeth Woldegiorgis was an acclaimed academic figure whose expertise lies in blending together of Ethiopian modernist art and history
Born in 1956 in Addis Ababa, prof. Elizabeth belongs to one of the most influential families in Ethiopia in the days of Imperial and the Military rules. Her father, Blata Woldegiorgis Woldeyohannis, was prominent Politician who served Ethiopia in various Ministerial Posts, first as Minister of Pen (1941-43), Minister of Interior(1943-49), Minister of Justice (1949-55). He was also the founding editor-in-chief of the daily Newspaper in Ethiopia, ‘Addis Zemen’
Her elder brother, Major Dawit Woldegiorgis, was one of the high-ranking officers of the Military regime that ruled Ethiopia from 1974-1991, the Dergue. He served as head of National Relief Agency and later as Governor of Eritrean Province. In the late days of Dergue rule, he fled to USA seeking political asylum. Shaleka Dawit Woldegiorgis has been vehement critique of the two governments of Post-1991 Ethiopia, the EPRDF and Prosperity Party rules
Prof. Elizabeth attended her primary and secondary educations at the prestigious Nazreth School in Addis Ababa. She studied economics in her undergraduate class, and joined the Banking Industry in USA, where she spent for decades
While living and working in America in 1980’s and 90’s, she used to meet such acclaimed Ethiopian Painters like Eskendir Boghosian, and that has influenced her academic path to shift from the field of Economics to Art. In 2004, prof. Elizabeth graduated from New York University in Masters of Arts in Museum Studies. She earned her PhD in History of Arts and Visual Studies from Cornell University
Her PhD Dissertation, titled ‘Ethiopian Modernism : A Subaltern Perspective’ was one of the best thesis in the history of the Department of Art at Cornell University, NewYork, the U.S.A. This dissertation was the pillar work for her book titled ‘Modernist Art in Ethiopia’, which was published by Ohio University Press in 2019. This book is one of the best selling & most cited academic works on modern art & history genere. With this acclaimed book, Prof. Elizabeth has garnered numerous international academic honors and prizes
Prof. Elizabeth was one of handful of scholars who joined Addis Ababa University -the first and the best higher education institutions in Ethiopia – under the Presidency of the late Prof. Andrias Eshete. She used to teach graduate courses at Ale Felegeselam School of Fine Arts and at the Institute of African & Oriental Studies of Addis Ababa University. Prof. Elizabeth took administrative posts at Addis Ababa University as Director of Institute of Ethiopia Studies (IES). In her over-decade-long leadership careers at the University, she is best remembered for laying cornerstones for the flourish of academic attention to Performing and Visual Art
While she was the Director of Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University, she pioneered the Lecture Series on the Concept of ‘Modernism’. The proceeding from this academic discourse and debate sessions was later came out as a book, titled ‘What is ‘Zemenawinet’? : Perspectives on Ethiopian Modernity’, published by Addis Ababa University in 2012
Prof. Elizabeth is also well remembered for establishing College of Performing and Visual Arts at Addis Ababa, for which she was founding dean. Her legacy also rests with the establishment of ‘Gebre-Kiristos Desta Center’, an Arts Gallery of Addis Ababa University in 2012. The Gebre-Kiristos Desta Center is center for exhibiting painting works of Ethiopian and other African artists. Prof. Elizabeth has served as Director of this arts center for four years
The late Elizabeth Woldegiorgis, who was Professor of Art Theory and Criticism, has passed away at a hospital located in the City of Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on March 16, 2025. While her departure remains loss to African artistic studies, Prof. Elizabeth’s tireless efforts for the Renaissance of Ethiopian and African Modernist Arts produced monumental works which would be sources of inspiration to aspiring youth and women in the realm of art studies
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