Menelik II
Founded Addis Ababa and defeated Italy at Adwa in 1896, keeping Ethiopia independent.
| Lived | 1844 – 1913 |
| Known as | Emperor of Ethiopia |
| Birthplace or main place | Addis Ababa |
| Places on the map | Addis Ababa, Gondar |
Addis AbabaSee the world of Menelik II in the interactive map
Who ruled these places in his lifetime
| Place | At birth (map of 1815) | At death (map of 1900) |
|---|---|---|
| Addis Ababa | Unclaimed / no data | same |
| Gondar | Ethiopia | same |
From the border maps nearest to each date; borders are approximate.
Events in his lifetime
| Year | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1855 | Tewodros II moves the capital away | Gondar |
| 1886 | Menelik II founds the city | Addis Ababa |
| 1888 | Sudanese Mahdist forces sack Gondar | Gondar |
Battles and sites of the time
- Battle of Adwa · 1896
- Battle of Omdurman · 1898
Further reading
Contemporaries
| Lived | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| 1828 – 1910 | Leo Tolstoy | Writer |
| 1835 – 1908 | Empress Dowager Cixi | De facto ruler of Qing China |
| 1852 – 1912 | Emperor Meiji | Emperor of Japan |
| 1819 – 1901 | Queen Victoria | Queen of the United Kingdom |
| 1853 – 1910 | Chulalongkorn (Rama V) | King of Siam |
| 1856 – 1939 | Sigmund Freud | Founder of psychoanalysis |
| 1815 – 1898 | Otto von Bismarck | Chancellor of Germany |
| 1861 – 1941 | Rabindranath Tagore | Poet |
| 1840 – 1893 | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Composer |
| 1825 – 1891 | Pedro II of Brazil | Emperor of Brazil |
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.