Seyoum Mesfin

Seyoum Mesfin Gebredingel (SAY-yoom MEHS-fihn; Tigrinya: ሰዩም መስፍን, pronounced [säyumə mesefənə] ; 25 January 1949 – 13 January 2021) was an Ethiopian politician and diplomat. He was Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 2010 and served as Ethiopia's Ambassador to China from 2011 to 2017.

== Early life and education ==

Seyoum was born on 25 January 1949 in Tigray, Ethiopia, as Ambaye Mesfin. He later changed from Ambaye to Seyoum as a nom de guerre. He attended Agazi Secondary School in Adigrat and Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute from which he received a diploma in industrial chemistry in 1971. He studied international law at the University of Amsterdam. In May 2010, he was awarded a doctorate of letters from Great Lakes University of Kisumu in Kenya.

== Career ==

=== Political career ===

He was one of the founders of the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF). Seyoum served as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in the 1980s. He was a member of the Marxist–Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) and composed songs to honor the organization. On 23 March 2013, Seyoum resigned from the TPLF Central Committee at...