Saturday 8th of July @ Fairfield House
As many will know, British troops charged into Ethiopia in 1868, stormed the citadel of its monarch Tewodros II, freed his prisoners and grabbed piles of his treasures and sacred manuscripts. They also took his son.
For the first time, “The Prince and the Plunder” tells the whole story of what happened to Alemayehu, from his early days in his father’s fortress on the roof of Africa to his new home across the seas, where he charmed Queen Victoria, chatted with Lord Tennyson and travelled with his towering red-headed guardian Captain Speedy. The orphan prince was celebrated but stereotyped and never allowed to go home.
The book also follows the loot – Ethiopia’s ‘Elgin Marbles’ – and tracks it down to its current hiding places in bank vaults, museum store cupboards and a boarded-up cavity in Westminster Abbey.
Its author Andrew Heavens, who worked as a foreign correspondent in Ethiopia and Sudan, is hoping to learn more and gain more perspectives during the discussions at Fairfield House. He is also hoping it will be an opportunity to celebrate the work of people with close links to Fairfield House – among them Ras Seymour Mclean of the Ethiopian World Federation – in campaigning for the return of the Magdala plunder.
1pm - 5pm
Fairfield House
2 Kelston Road
Bath , BA1 3QJ
All welcome
