Addis Ababa, February 24, 2023 (FBC) – The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa in partnership with the World Monument Fund has renovated the “American Gibbi” Building, one of historical heritage sites in the capital.
According to a press release sent to Fana Broadcasting Corporate the U.S. Embassy, Addis Ababa, completed the cultural heritage conservation work on the landmark late 19th-century building, commonly known as the “American Gibbi,” located in Addis Ababa’s business district, Merkato.
The Embassy awarded a 240,000 USD grant to the World Monuments Fund in 2019 for the conservation of the historic building, the release added.
Ambassador Tracey Jacobson, Chargé d’Affaires (CDA) of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, along with State Minister of Tourism Sileshi Girma as well as the ambassadors to Ethiopia of Yemen, Türkiye, United Kingdom, Sweden, other members of the diplomatic corps and public representatives attended the reopening of the renovated heritage.
During her remarks, Ambassador Jacobson noted that the building is a physical symbol of the history underpinning the relationship between the United States and Ethiopia.
The inaugural event featured a panel of historical and architectural heritage experts, who explained the significance of the building, an exhibition of photos showing the historical photos from the Embassy at that time, and a historic narration on the role of CDA Engert during the “Yekatit 12” incident, given by a leading historian of that period, Ian Campbell.
In February 1937, in the aftermath of the failed assassination of the Italian Viceroy Graziani and the consequent indiscriminate massacre of thousands of residents of Addis Ababa at the hands of Italian fascists, the then U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Cornelius Van H. Engert sheltered 700 Ethiopians fleeing the violence in the compound (the American Gibi).
By: Yonathan Yoseph