Menen Asfaw

Empress Menen Asfaw (died 1961) was the wife and consort of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Empress Menen was the daughter of Jantirar Asfaw of Ambassel. Her mother was Woizero Sehin Mikael, half-sister of Lij Iyasu (Iyasu V), and daughter of King Mikael of Wollo. Empress Menen and Emperor Haile Selassie were the parents of six children, Princess Tenagnework, Prince Asfaw Wossen (Emperor-in-Exile Amha Selassie I), Princess Tsehai, Princess Zenebework, Prince Makonnen Duke of Harrar, and Prince Sahle Selasse.

Empress Menen was active in promoting womens issues in Ethiopia, was Patroness of the Ethiopian Red Cross, and also the Ethiopian Womens Charitable Organization. She also gave generously as well as sponsored programs for the poor, ill and disabled. She was also a devoutly religious woman who did much to support the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

When the Empress was exiled from Ethiopia during the Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941, she made a pledge to the Virgin Mary at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, promising to give her crown to the church if Ethiopia were liberated from occupation. Following the return of Emperor Haile Selassie and his family in 1941, a replica of the crown was made for future Empresses, but the crown with which Empress Menen was crowned at her husband's side in 1931 was sent to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Empress Menen, although often seen wearing a tiara at public events that called for it, would never again wear a full crown.

Following her death in 1961, the Empress was buried at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa.