Mulatu Teshome

In this Ethiopian name, the name Teshome is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Mulatu.

Mulatu Teshome Wirtu (Oromo: Mulaatuu Tashoome Wirtuu; Amharic: ሙላቱ ተሾመ ውርቱ; born 1957^[2]) is an Ethiopian politician who was president of Ethiopia from 2013 to 2018.^[3][4][5]

Mulatu Teshome
ሙላቱ ተሾመ
Mulatu in 2019
President of Ethiopia
In office 7 October 2013 – 25 October 2018
Prime Minister	Hailemariam Desalegn Abiy Ahmed
Preceded by	Girma Wolde-Giorgis
Succeeded by	Sahle-Work Zewde
Speaker of the House of Federation
In office 10 October 2002 – 10 October 2005
Prime Minister	Meles Zenawi
Preceded by	Almaz Meko [am]
Succeeded by	Degefe Bula
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
In office 17 October 2001 – 1 July 2003
Prime Minister	Meles Zenawi
Preceded by	Mengistu Hulluka
Succeeded by	Addisu Legesse
Personal details
Born	1957 (age 67–68) Arjo, East Welega, Ethiopian Empire
Political party	Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization
Other political affiliations	Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
Spouse	Meaza Abraham[1]
Alma mater	Peking University Beijing Language and Culture University The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

Biography

International student card of Mulatu Teshome at Peking University

President Mulatu Teshome meets with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw, 25 April 2018

Mulatu was born in the town of Arjo in Welega Province.^[6] He was educated in China, receiving his bachelor's degree in philosophy of political economy and doctorate in international politics at Peking University.^[6] He received his Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1990. He taught at some "foreign universities and institutions", according to Speaker Abadula Gemeda.

In the mid-1990s he was Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Cooperation under Minister Girma Birru, and he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture in 2001.^[7] He was also Speaker of the House of Federation from 2002 to 2005.^[7] He served as Ethiopia's Ambassador to China, Japan, Turkey,^[4][5][8] and Azerbaijan.^[9]

While serving as Ambassador to Turkey, he was elected as President of Ethiopia by a unanimous parliamentary vote^[5] on 7 October 2013. Girma Seifu of the Unity for Democracy and Justice, the sole opposition member of parliament, welcomed his election.^[5] Like his predecessors Girma Wolde-Giorgis and Negasso Gidada, he is Oromo.^[4][10]

Mulatu has one son.^[11]