The Legacy of Merid Wolde Aregay

This short commentary on Merid Wolde Aregay, late emeritus professor of history at Addis Ababa University, reviews some of his major works and makes a humble attempt to discuss what the present writer believes are the major contributions of this great scholar to the understanding of Ethiopian history and society. But this attempt has some limitations. I have concentrated on what I consider his major works and left out some others; also, I was not able to get hold of his PhD dissertation, as it is not available in the libraries of Addis Ababa University and individuals are not willing to provide it. This gap can be bridged at least in part by his other works, which raise some of the major issues that are raised in the dissertation.

This short article has two sections. The first is a general commentary on Merid's contributions. The second part summarizes some of his major works and provides a brief commentary on them, grouping them according to the issues they discuss.