Zewditu

Born Askala Maryam on 29 April 1876, she was forty and childless when crowned Empress Zewditu in February 1917, following the dethroning of Lij Iyasu. The conservative factions and Ethiopian Orthodox Church backed her as a stabilizing force, and she modeled her reign after Queen Victoria's - holding firm to traditional values while her regent, Ras Tafari Makonnen, pushed modernization and international diplomacy. The dual power arrangement created constant tension: she resisted the very changes he championed, anchored by staunch religiosity and suspicion of foreign entanglement even as colonial Italy circled. For fourteen years she maneuvered between factions, preserving sovereignty and cultural heritage through sheer resistance. She died on 2 April 1930 under circumstances still unclear, and Ras Tafari succeeded her as Haile Selassie I - the modernizer she'd spent her reign holding at bay.