Results
Our analysis of the relationship between Lucien Matte and Emperor Haile Selassie revealed the myriad negotiations of power and position that Lucien Matte needed to make as an invited guest of Haile Selassie.
The university dream and the context of imperialism
Haile Selassie was a fierce advocate for education as a means of personal and national development.34 Even before he came to power, as Prince Regent he declared, ‘I hope … that for the future generations of pupils there will be established before very long a university of advanced studies in their own land of Ethiopia’.35 The methods Haile Selassie chose to realise this dream were deeply entwined with broader geopolitical realities.
While Ethiopia is celebrated as one of only two countries in Africa to have escaped a formal sustained period of European colonialism, the distribution of global power still circumscribed Ethiopia’s power and autonomy. Centres of geopolitical imperialism continued to support racialised notions of ‘civilisation’ as primarily a White man’s endeavour and colonial thirst for expansive power and resources remained unquenched.36 37 For example, Europeans long debated the acceptability of Ethiopia’s entrance into the League of Nations, despite being a sovereign nation. Moreover, treaty-making between Italy, Britain and France repeatedly attempted to diminish or reject Ethiopian sovereignty while the USA too broke promises of protection.36 37 Indeed, when the Italians invaded and occupied Ethiopia in 1935, Haile Selassie fled to England in order to generate support for Ethiopian sovereignty.37 38 Instead, he faced bitter disappointment. His appeals both to the League of Nations and to politicians directly in England fell on unsympathetic ears as contemporary European politics largely favoured Italian appeasement.38 Only during the Second World War, when Italy declared war on the Allies, was the British government moved to assist Ethiopian liberation as a way to advance the Allies’ own military objectives.37
Thus, when Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia in 1941 following the expulsion of the Italians, he remained attuned to, and wary of, the problematic power dynamics of foreign involvement in Ethiopian spaces.39 Both before and during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie experienced how the dominant structures of international engagement repeatedly dismissed Ethiopia’s sovereignty and ignored or delayed treaty responsibilities,37 38 both of which did little to facilitate trust in international collaborators.38 40 41 Moreover, as his efforts to return to Ethiopia suggest, it is not difficult to imagine that Haile Selassie desired neither physical nor cultural exile again.38
When Haile Selassie renewed his attention to educational development in Ethiopia, his choice of Canadian Jesuits as international collaborators suggests an approach of extreme caution. Such a decision is unsurprising given the potent context of past imperial interests, his personal experience of neglect and betrayal, and an awareness of the occasional hostility Ethiopians felt towards foreigners.38 42 Writing to Pope Pius XII in 1945, the emperor requested that Canadian Jesuits come to Ethiopia to help the emperor expand the country’s education system.40 This choice was made due to the Jesuits’ reputation for educational excellence43 and English-French bilingualism40 but also likely aided by Canada’s status as a middle power with little perceived involvement in global imperialism.40 44
Lucien Matte and the Jesuits
When Lucien Matte received the call to lead the mission to Ethiopia in the early months of 1945, he was serving as Rector of the College of Jesuits in Quebec. Having recently submitted a request for international service in China, Matte was no doubt surprised when the Provincial Superior instructed him to lead educational efforts in Ethiopia. In response, Matte replied ‘My dear Father, where is Ethiopia?’.45 A few months later, he was travelling across the Atlantic to his new home for the next 17 years.
On Matte’s arrival in Ethiopia, he became Director of Tafari Makonnen School, and worked under the direct supervision of Haile Selassie, who had named himself Minister of Education. Matte’s mandate from the emperor was clear: ‘establish study programs … and only let yourself be guided (from an academic point of view) by this principle: give me young people for the University’.46 Matte assured the emperor that he would faithfully follow this directive.46
Matte’s mandate was a complicated one. Haile Selassie’s invitation to the Canadian Jesuits was embedded in a historical context of intense resentment of European imperialism, a history the Jesuits would have ignored to their own detriment. As the Ethiopian ambassador to Egypt, Tesfaye Tequenne advised Jesuit Father Bonneville, ‘It is essential that you do not come with “white” ideas but to serve the country. Neither come with the idea of missionaries going among the savage. Ethiopia has a long cultural history. Remember that Ethiopians are very sensitive after the adventures of the last ten years’.41 The Jesuits were expected to accept this positioning of themselves as humble guests. Moreover, Haile Selassie placed significant restrictions on the conditions of Jesuit existence in Ethiopia. Jesuits were required to wear lay clothing rather than their religious attire and were forbidden to proselytise. Despite what a Jesuit Superior considered ‘grave restrictions’,47 the Jesuits accepted the conditions of work in order to support Haile Selassie’s education endeavour. Far from a classic mission, Lucien Matte and his fellow Jesuits were invited guests to Ethiopia, not imperial missionaries.
It is crucial to remember, however, that as much as the institutional development of education in Ethiopia occurred under the watch of Ethiopian self-determination, Lucien Matte and the Jesuits were invited to bring programmes of education to Ethiopia that did little to challenge western theories of intellectual and social development.41 48 When it came to the establishment of education programmes, the focus seemed to be on alignment with educational standards abroad rather than a focus on life in Ethiopia.39 The Ethiopian education system that emerged was characterised by a lack of comprehensive understanding and acknowledgement of the country’s intellectual legacy, including its traditional education system. As a result, the education system in Ethiopia often failed to integrate or recognise the country’s rich cultural and intellectual heritage.49–54 Although Haile Selassie sought to strengthen Ethiopian sovereignty, the pervasive power of western educational models in the search for ‘modernity’ proved inescapable. At best, Haile Selassie and Lucien Matte were able to mitigate their influence only.
Mitigating the powerful influence of western educational models was, however, possible. Instead of a wholesale embrace of Western educational models, Matte’s approach to primary education was more nuanced and integrative, incorporating local languages and Ethiopia’s cultural traditions. This approach added context and adaption to broader western standards. As a former colleague in Ethiopia described him, ‘Father Matte instinctively understood that the best way to serve Ethiopia is to help it help itself, by valuing the people and things of the country’.55 To do so, Matte valued local languages by incorporating Amharic and Ge’ez into primary school education and acknowledging that the ‘handicap’ of English based instruction in upper years should, in time, be removed.41 Later, he facilitated the emperor’s donation of Amharic books to the University of Montreal to champion the study of the language abroad.56 While at University College, Matte oversaw the creation of a special section in the school library dedicated to Ethiopia, facilitated the creation of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, the Ethnological Society, a museum, as well as a meteorology and geophysics observatory. Matte also remained committed to the development of local capacity building initiatives, noting the shame he felt for being the head of an Ethiopian institution in which not a single Ethiopian taught.57 In recognition of their purpose of service, Matte even once requested a reduction in salary for the Jesuits.58 Thus, Matte’s choices highlight how an individual can adapt and vary from western education programmes while at the same time ultimately failing to dislodge powerful international assumptions of expertise and standards.3 40 59–61
Establishing schools
With the end goal of a university in mind, both Matte and Haile Selassie knew that a solid educational foundation must be laid. With a sense of optimism, Matte became the Headmaster of the Tafari Makonnen School, and quickly put himself to work organising curriculum, establishing standards of teaching, and seeking out material and personnel resources for the school. Often, these needs required Matte to travel internationally, which Matte, in the spirit of service to Ethiopia, offered to do at his own expense. Matte, however, had accrued the trust of the emperor and benefited from the high priority he placed on education. Moreover, Ministry officials also developed an early cordial collaboration with Matte and the Jesuits, who too appreciated the respectful Jesuit behaviour.62 Ultimately, Matte was provided with all necessary funds.41 When Tafari Makonnen School opened in October of 1945, the staff welcomed 650 students (of whom 165 were boarders). The work was plentiful. In a letter to his sister, Matte noted, ‘there is enough work and concern and responsibilities to prevent us from getting bored. You can be sure that we don’t even have time to think about that’.63 By the following year, there were 1030 students including 465 borders, amounting to a fifth of the student population in Addis Ababa.52 With the clear support of the host country, the Jesuit’s mandate was well underway.
Through the production of desired results, general adherence to the conditions of engagement, and frequent meetings between Haile Selassie and Matte, trust in the Jesuits grew.52 It is also noteworthy that Lucien Matte conducted his work in Ethiopia with the full support of his Jesuit Superiors. In fact, Rome ‘urgently recommended’ that Matte ‘carry out each and every one of Haile Selassie’s wishes’.46 Unsurprisingly, when Haile Selassie decided to expand Ethiopia’s institutional capacity, he turned to Matte to become President of the University College of Addis Ababa (UCAA) in 1950. This work involved not only the hiring of additional lay teachers, but the organisation of offices, kitchens, classrooms, laboratories, a dining room and a library. At the school’s opening, Matte recalled that the emperor had never shaken his hand more warmly. Haile Selassie’s happiness was clear.53 By the 1953–1954 academic year, UCAA offered training in arts, science and law in the regular programme and law in the extension programme with continuing education classes for 451 students.
The troubles and a new kind of collaboration
Lucien Matte’s time as an invited guest, however, was not without its problems and troubles. One major obstacle to confront Matte was his commitment to his vision of power and authority. Like Jesuit schools around the world, Matte expected a high degree of authority to set expectations and enact discipline. In his own words, Matte understood his role both at TMS and UCAA to be ‘like a father’.64 It was a vision that Haile Selassie repeatedly endorsed. Student life for school boarders was exhaustively prescribed, and expressed ideas and behaviours not aligned with Jesuit or Imperial expectations were sanctioned. Over time, this degree of control did not resonate well with the student body or alumni. Another major challenge was the growing resentment of the Jesuit presence in Ethiopia. Problematically for Matte, many individuals took umbrage with the ongoing Jesuit influence in education and with Haile Selassie himself. These included local Catholics, ministers within the government, and the clergy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In addition, Matte noted the frustration of many foreign delegations that the Jesuits strove so fastidiously to avoid alliance with any national, cultural or linguistic cause.41 Despite multiple groups’ expressed desire to earn the loyalty of the Canadian Jesuits, Matte held firm that their primary commitment would be to Haile Selassie. Matte’s close collaboration with Haile Selassie was filled with trust and success, but the complexities born of diverse local opinions remained a constant tension in their work.
Emblematic of this tension was how the charter for UCAA developed. When the final version of the charter was publicly released in the Negarit Gazeta on 24 July 1954, much to Matte’s surprise, the published version was substantively different than the one he and his committees had developed over several months. In particular, the revised version of the charter placed safeguards against unilateral presidential decisions, adding clauses that circumscribed decisions to the approval of the Board of Governors. While the clauses in practice rarely challenged presidential authority,44 their appearance left Matte with a feeling that he would no longer have any effective power at the Institution.65 Resenting these perceived attempts to circumscribe his authority, Matte explained to Haile Selassie that he could not accept such conditions of work.66 Here, again, the realities of international collaboration proved their messiness. How willing are invited guests to relinquish their power? What unlearning needs to happen? How can collaborations endure through such periods of transitional learning? In the end, Matte appears to have conceded to the revisions, demonstrating the prudence and tact for which he was known.55
Nevertheless, Jesuits would come to face fierce opposition to their presence in Ethiopia.67 Students’ frustrations with Haile Selassie and the Jesuits were already tense due to the concern that UCAA was created to stifle Ethiopians’ ability to seek post-secondary education abroad.40 On numerous occasions Haile Selassie was informed of UCAA students’ resistance to Jesuit authority. Clearly frustrated, Matte explained to his Jesuit superiors that a ‘spirit of opposition’ had arisen among the students against school leadership.68 At times, Matte questioned whether he had the strength to stay.69 This sense of opposition was no doubt augmented for Matte in December of 1960 when several UCCA students expressed support for an attempted coup d'état against the rule of Haile Selassie. Given Matte’s close relationship with the emperor and Haile Selassie’s consistent endorsement of the Jesuits, such expressions of support would not have sat well with Matte or his sense of authority.
Instead of seeking to understand the rationales for student unrest, Matte drew on his paternalistic sense of power. Calling the students involved ‘ingrates, stupid and disloyal’, he forced each to write a letter of apology and a declaration of loyalty to Haile Selassie following the successful defeat of the coup.70 While Matte acknowledged how broader movements of ‘anticolonialism, anti-imperialism and anti-white’ were gaining traction across Africa, he likened such beliefs to an ‘illness’.71 Here, Matte’s collaboration with Haile Selassie both rejected local perspectives and developed new hierarchical ruling regimes embedded within pre-existing structures of local patriarchal ruling authority. New schools during this period often served as platforms for cultural indoctrination, primarily focused on promoting the ideals and values of the ruling regime. Consequently, the emphasis was placed on building a new education system that reinforced the principles of ruling authority rather than embracing and preserving Ethiopia’s diverse intellectual traditions and cultural roots. Simply put, Matte remained committed to being an ‘invited guest’ of Haile Selassie. If Matte had chosen to challenge Haile Selassie and promote a more comprehensive embrace of Ethiopia’s diverse intellectual traditions, Matte could have overstepped the boundaries of the ‘invited guests’ dynamic. This tension highlights the delicate balance between respecting local agency and autonomy and offering constructive critique or alternative visions. Matte himself embraced the same models of authoritative patriarchal power70 that Haile Selassie endorsed. But what if he had not? Such a possibility raises questions of what the right decisions of an ‘invited guest’ or outside partner are. Keenly aware of Haile Selassie’s continued confidence in him and the Jesuits own ambitions to sustain Catholicism in Ethiopia, Matte carried on.
For his remaining years in the country, Matte prepared himself to be of service to Haile Selassie’s ultimate educational vision, the creation of an Ethiopian university. By the late 1950s, with the increase in primary and secondary education well underway, and the University College Addis Ababa firmly established, plans for a university were set in motion. The emperor actively sought Matte’s advice and explored the idea of Matte taking over the leadership of this new post-secondary institution. Two factors, however, prevented this reality. At repeated times throughout their stay in Ethiopia, Matte and the Jesuits faced periods of fierce opposition, including the late 1950s,64 71–75 but more significant was the Americans’ eager interest to support Ethiopian projects and their financial ability to back it.44 As Matte remarked in a letter to a fellow Jesuit, such US involvement seemed a good occasion for Matte to lose his job.76 Ultimately, Haile Selassie chose to accept the Americans’ offer of aid.77
Unlike their Jesuit counterparts, Americans under the guidance of Dr Harold W Bentley of the University of Utah did not conduct themselves like invited guests but as invested parties. First, unlike Lucien Matte, the University of Utah’s survey team had concluded in 1959 that Ethiopia did not need a university of its own, preferring instead to continue scholarship programmes to international, preferably American, universities.61 When the US government agreed to support the creation of a national university in Ethiopia, some scholars argued that Cold War concerns played a more prominent motivational role than investment in Ethiopian training and scholarship.55 61 78 Second, Matte recounted that as the major funders of the university, the Americans tried to extract significant leadership concessions from the Ethiopians as ‘legitimate compensation’ for their financial contribution.61 68 According to Matte, in exchange for the funding, the Americans sought the right to appoint fellow Americans in the positions of president, two vice-presidents, all faculty deans and the professional corps of the school of education.79 The move clearly angered Haile Selassie who pushed back against the demand and asserted that the president and vice-presidents of the university would be Ethiopian.68 79 This event and the response it generated was an echo of an earlier time when the Inter-University Council of Great Britain would only offer accreditation to UCAA if it complied more fully with British programmes and structures.40 In effect, the Inter-University Council sought to transform UCAA into a satellite campus. Unwilling to bend to foreign power then, Haile Selassie and his ministers were unwilling to do so now.40 59 60 Moreover, in time Dr Bentley proved to lack Matte’s humility as an invited guest, making staffing decisions directly at odds with Haile Selassie’s wishes.61 Bentley’s visa was later revoked while travelling abroad.61 Matte in contrast, who like Bentley did not always agree with Haile Selassie,80 nevertheless saw the diminished need for the Jesuits, appreciated the university’s project of Ethiopianisation, and left the country celebrated for his seventeen years of devoted service.
Matte returned to Canada to take up leadership of the new University of Sudbury.55 On their final meeting in Ethiopia, Haile Selassie offered Matte a series of tokens that highlighted the sincere collaborative relationship that had developed between the two. These included a signed photo of the emperor and a carpet for Matte’s new office, so that he would be prompted to remember Haile Selassie each time he set foot there.55 81 In addition, not long after Matte’s return to Canada, Haile Selassie donated $10 000 to the University of Sudbury following a financial appeal for support from Matte.82
Evidence thus underscores that the position of an invited guest can create the conditions for effective collaboration, sincere respect and achievement of shared goals. Indeed, not long after Matte’s departure from Ethiopia, he received a letter stating a unanimous sense of gratitude from the Councils of the University College, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts of UCAA. The motion noted,
we address the expression of our deep gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Matte for his long years of indefatigable efforts and devotedness. Dr. Matte presided over the birth and the growth of the University College from a mere single-class one-building nucleus to the institution we now see flourishing. His work for the development of higher education in Ethiopia has been one of unsparing generosity and selflessness.83
Following Matte’s death in Canada in 1973, the then President of Haile Selassie I University, Dr Aklilu Habte, referred to Matte as ‘a great friend of Ethiopia’.84
Importantly, evidence of the sincerity of the trusting relationship existed long after Matte’s departure from Ethiopia. In letters written from Canada, Matte repeatedly described his unwavering attachment to His Majesty and indestructible affection for Ethiopia.85 He also continued to advocate for the growth of Ethiopian projects. Notably, when the Canadian government dithered on their interest in funding teacher training in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian ambassador to Canada, Ato Dawit Abdo, contacted Matte for assistance.86 Matte wrote both to Minister Marc Lalonde and to former Minister Paul Martin to champion the project. Because Matte and the Jesuits had adhered so closely to the wishes of their host, these invited guests became trusted friends and life-long collaborators, whose contributions to Ethiopian education have lasted for more than half a century. Whether a broader spectrum of Ethiopians felt the same way about Lucien Matte and the Jesuits as did Haile Selassie, however, remains less clear. Haile Selassie and Lucien Matte were two men with a similar vision of what an educational environment in Ethiopia should look like, and for Haile Selassie and his willing aide, the power to enact this vision. Sincere and productive though it may have been, this relationship was far from a panacea for global paternalistic power and colonial influence. Nevertheless, Matte and Haile Selassie’s enactment of an invited guest relationship reveals what is possible when the balance of power between an HIC-LMIC is shifted.
