Emperor’s new country
QUESTION Did Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia live in Britain?
HAILE SELASSIE was the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 until he was overthrown in 1974.
He was known for modernising his country, helping to establish the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union) in 1963 and for his symbolic importance in the Rastafarian movement, where he is revered as the messiah. During his reign, Ethiopia suffered an Italian invasion and he was forced to live in exile from 1936-41, most of which he spent in Bath, England.
Born Lij Tafari, son of Ras Makonnen, a nobleman and military leader, in 1892, he took his regal name, Haile Selassie, meaning Power of the Trinity, on ascending the throne on November 2, 1930. In October 1935, Italian troops invaded Ethiopia. Benito Mussolini was keen to avenge Italy’s defeat in the First ItaloEthiopian War in 1896. He also saw a chance to provide land for unemployed Italians and acquire more mineral resources.
The Ethiopian army was underprepared and outgunned. With Italian forces rapidly approaching the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Selassie fled to the French colony in Djibouti on May 2, 1936. With Selassie in exile, the Italians captured the capital on May 9, 1936, and annexed Ethiopia. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy was declared emperor. Selassie travelled first to Jerusalem and then to the League of Nations in Geneva where, on May 12, he gave a powerful speech pleading with them to assist Ethiopia and warning them: ‘God and history will remember your judgment.’
In June, Selassie and his family arrived in England. He stayed in hotels in Worthing and Wimbledon. He then moved to the Abbey Hotel in Malvern, Worcestershire, where his granddaughters were educated at Clarendon School for Girls. He finally settled in Bath, buying the 14-roomed Fairfield House where he spent his days walking in the gardens, reading diplomatic history and writing his autobiography. He continued with his plea to the League of Nations to condemn Ethiopia’s occupation and counter Italian propaganda, which earned him many admirers across the globe.
In June 1940, Italy entered World War II in support of Nazi Germany. The British and Allies agreed to end the Italian occupation of Ethiopia as part of the East African Campaign. Selassie joined them in January 1941 as they crossed into Ethiopia and was restored to the throne the following May. He ruled for a further 33 years, until he was deposed by a military coup in 1974. He died the following year while under house arrest in Addis Ababa.
As for Fairfield House, in 1943 it was used by the Waifs and Strays Society as a home for evacuated young children. Selassie returned to Bath in 1958 when he was given Freedom of the City, and he donated Fairfield to Bath. It was used as a care home until 1993.
Since then, it has been used as a day centre by a number of groups including the Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizen Association, Age Concern, the Ethiopian Coptic Church and a Rastafari church.
James White, Wells, Somerset.
QUESTION Why do older people groan when they get up?
VARIOUS physiological and biomechanical factors can affect the body as it ages and cause mild discomfort. There are a whole host of reasons for this. Aside from illnesses such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, there’s also...
Joint stiffness: With age, the synovial fluid in joints (which lubricates them) can decrease, and cartilage can wear down, leading to joint stiffness.
Reduced muscle mass: This tends to decrease with age, a condition known as sarcopenia. Weaker muscles can make it more challenging to move, especially after periods of inactivity, and this can result in groaning or grunting noises as they exert effort to stand or move.
Reduced core control: Both sitting down and standing up require some level of core engagement. By tightening the core, you may exhale with a grunt.
Decreased elasticity: Tendons and ligaments lose some of their elasticity as people age, making movements less smooth and more prone to discomfort.
Spinal changes: Age-related changes in the spine, such as reduced disc height and the formation of bone spurs, can result in limited spinal flexibility and discomfort when moving.
Staying physically active and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help mitigate some of the agerelated aches and pains associated with movement. Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.
QUESTION Do dogs dream when they fall asleep?
YES, dogs do indeed dream, according to experts.
Dr William Dement, founder of the Sleep Research Center at Stanford University in the US, conducted research on dogs in the 1970s, and found that, similar to humans, canines have cycles of REM and non-REM sleep.
For humans, REM sleep is the most common cycle in which to experience dreams – and Dr Gary Richter, a veterinary health expert, observed: ‘Dog brains are very similar to human brains on a structural level, so their brainwaves and brain activity while sleeping are similar to humans.’
So can we tell when dogs are dreaming? Yes, according to veterinary behaviourist Dr Liz Stelow, who observed: ‘Typically their eyelids may flicker, their legs may move and their lips may move – they may even vocalise.’
And regarding what dogs dream about, experts believe they may, like humans, be experiencing their everyday activities again during sleep. Dr Stelow said that ‘paw movements and lip movements suggest that dogs may be reliving things they have experienced’.
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