MENILEK II

born Aug. 17, 1844, Ankober, Shewa , Ethiopia died Dec. 12, 1913, Addis Ababa also spelled Menelik, original name Sahle Miriam, also spelled Sahl Mariam king of Shewa (or Shoa; 186589), and emperor of Ethiopia (18891913). One of Ethiopia's greatest rulers, he expanded the empire almost to its present-day borders, repelled an Italian invasion in 1896, and carried out a wide-ranging program of modernization. Additional reading Gubr Sellassi, Chronique du rgne de Mnlik II, trans. from Amharic, 2 vol. (193031), was written by a court chronicler, traditionally uncritical of his monarch; this is thus a biased though standard work. Other works include Harold Marcus, The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 18441913 (1975, reissued 1995); R.H. Kofi Darkwah, Shewa, Menilek, and the Ethiopian Empire, 18131889 (1975); and Chris Prouty, Empress Taytu and Menilek II (1986).