Hi Friends -- Could you please put this up on your website - thanks very much!
Kind regards :Huriy
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Eulogy - English
A EULOGY: A Short Biography of Beyene Haile
(A Translation of the Tigrinya eulogy read at the funeral of Beyene Haile on July 1, 2012 in Asmara)
Today, we bid a reverential farewell to our nightingale. Writer, poet, philosopher, painter, sculptor, management expert – in short, like a revival of an era of the learned, a man of many professions and extensive culture – Beyene Haile.
The notion of the nightingale is borrowed from Beyene’s celebrated book – Deqwan Teberh. The idea is based on a tale by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen called The Nightingale. Using the tale as a symbol, Beyene Haile had managed to convey an important message to us all. Every time new trainees arrived at the Institute of Organisational Excellence located at Embatkala, the first question Beyene would ask was, “When you arrived here, did you ever notice a bird singing beautiful songs at night?”
The tale in short goes as follows: There once lived an emperor who had built wonderful palaces, great halls, immense monuments and attractive leisure parks throughout his kingdom. The emperor was in the habit of inviting fellow kings and contemporaries to his kingdom to show them the attractions he had built. But he was always surprised by the message he received from his guests upon their return to their respective countries. They would all invariably write, ‘We were impressed by the reception and hospitality accorded to us during our visit but most of all, we were very much charmed by your nightingale which sang beautiful songs every night.’ But the king knew nothing of the nightingale. When he asked his officials one by one, none of them knew about the bird. He then ordered that the question be put to the entire population of his realm. But still, no one knew about the existence of the bird. In the end, they found one little girl who knew about
the bird and led them to the nightingale.
The author Beyene Haile uses the tale as a symbol to illustrate that individuals and people of many countries often fail to recognise properly the valuable resources at their immediate disposal. What’s more, he wrote that identifying one’s resources plays the greatest role in driving us to reach the highest level of excellence which he describes as the ‘Stage of Absolute Possibilities.’
Beyene can be regarded as the nightingale of Eritrea. Born in Asmara in 1941 to his father Fitawrari Kassa Mesih and his mother Zewditu Kidane Mesmer, he was endowed with an inquisitive and searching mind and has thus managed to contribute a great gift to us in the field of art. From a young age, he loved painting and sculpting and as a mere 18-year-old in 1958, he wrote his first novel titled Abidu Do Tibluwo which was published in 1964. Although there had been a few novels written in Tigrinya during the time, Abidu Do Tibluwo represented the first Eritrean modernist novel in terms of plot, style and characterisation. The novel was also a testament to Beyene’s calibre as a well-read and talented artist with a sharp mind.
From 1959 to 1963, Beyene studied at the American University of Beirut and graduated with a double major in Political Science and Public Administration and became a professional in the field of Management Studies. Yet still, with his passion for art ever so intact, he managed to produce a major body of artwork. In 1974, he held his first art exhibition in Asmara. In the same year, he also wrote a long English poem titled “Sara” which dealt with the nature of organisations. In subsequent years, he continued to write poems in English.
Driven by his intense love for his country and people as well as his desire to utilise his professional expertise and knowledge for the benefit of Eritrea’s nation building effort, Beyene returned home straight after independence. He subsequently conducted a series of studies of various public and government institutions with the aim of improving productivity and excellence.
In 2006, Beyene founded the Institute of Organisational Excellence – IOE – which was based in Embatkala. The focus of the institute was to establish a training setup with the aim of improving the workings and organisation of Eritrean institutions to eventually achieve excellence in the way they worked. In order to achieve this aim competently, he worked very hard to train and equip his young colleagues with the necessary knowledge and professional competency in order to deliver excellent service.
As well as conducting invaluable studies in the field of management, the post-independence years represented Beyene’s significant artistic output. In 2003, he wrote his celebrated book Deqwan Teberh and in 2006, he followed it with an equally notable novel titled Tesbit Bahgu. In 2008, he wrote a play called Wegi Libi, (Heart to Heart Talk) which was staged in Asmara to high critical acclaim. Beyene has also left a substantial body of unpublished work. He has penned many essays that have been published in various journals and magazines. He leaves also a large number of paintings which he has painted over the course of his life.
The two books that Beyene wrote after independence have delivered important ideas and deep philosophical concepts which have had a telling effect in the development of our people and country. Deqwan Teberh and Tesbit Bahgu represent a great milestone in the development of Eritrean literature. In Deqwan Teberh, Beyene set a scene where Eritreans who returned home from all corners of the world following independence, including former freedom fighters, and those who stayed in Asmara would come together in fraternity to discuss issues that would benefit the country and people. Through the book, Beyene has managed to convey a series of refined ideas and timely messages the value of which will be felt for generations to come. And what he could not include in Deqwan Teberh, he aptly managed to incorporate in Tesbit Bahgu.
Being a writer as well as a painter, Beyene had an exceptional talent in employing imagery to express his ideas. Symbols such as the Flowering Rock, The Mouse and Elephant, Nightingale, Ear Statue, The Questions of Sphinx, Wala and The Stage of Absolute Possibilities are a few of many notions that express deep philosophical concepts. What’s more, by employing art, including the use of symbols, images, parables and tales, he has made a vast discipline like Management Studies easily understandable.
Beyene has thoroughly proven that he was a prominent Eritrean philosopher. One of his symbols was Wala – loosely translated as The Watchtower – as used by farmers and farmer-hands to guard and watch over a crop field. Beyene declared that if people were to see the past and the future clearly as well as chart a positive path in their journey, they needed to first and foremost scale onto and stand atop a Wala. He profoundly loved the symbolism of the Wala and to him, it signalled the highest plane of enlightenment and the expression of a clear vision.
The writings of Beyene can be likened to an onion. Just like an onion has endless layers, Beyene’s books are full of infinite ideas and philosophical concepts. If one were to assert that there has never been a person who used the Tigrinya language in such refined manner as Beyene, it would not be a lie. To date, no one else has managed to reveal the expressive power of Tigrinya the way he did.
Beyene had great love for the youth. He used to say, “I wrote all my books for the young and I have no doubt that they will read and understand them well.” And as he said, the fact that his books are not just read once but read and re-read many times is a testament to their timelessness. There is no doubt that his work will be used by future generation to produce innovative works.
Beyene coined the phrase Qelem Qemes – the Ink-Stained, if you like – in reference to some educated people and his extensive use of the phrase may have caused some people to mistakenly understand that he intended to attack learned people. However, a careful reading of his books would readily reveal that he in fact greatly valued education and educated people. Still, Beyene’s definition of education was very clear: he did not believe in the type of educated people who, armed with a smidgen of knowledge, proceeded to benefit their individual needs only. He instead valued those who based their knowledge on history and philosophy and worked hard for the betterment of a community of people in a principled manner.
Beyene will be remembered not just for his invaluable contributions to society but also his exemplary character. Despite his vast knowledge, professional competence and significant contributions, he always remained unassuming. He abhorred vanity and was able to get along with everyone – be it children or adults, the educated or otherwise; he was, in every respect, a well-liked human being whose mastery of good conversation was superb.
Today, we are bidding farewell to such a great and respected man. Although we were all aware that, like every other human being, Beyene would one day pass, we never realised it would be this early. But still, we believe that he hasn’t really left us. Even though his death is a big loss to our country and its people, Beyene has made sure that we wouldn’t lose out so much by imparting a lot of what he was in us. His ideas, expectations and visions for his country and people are recorded in his books. It’s true that we may feel the grief of his untimely departure but we should also celebrate with pride all the things he achieved in his life’s journey. And by preserving and building on his legacy, we shall truly make sure that his spirit will rest in peace.
Beyene had been married to Weizero Freweini Hailemariam since 1984. While he still continued to serve the country he loved with professional diligence, he passed away on June 29, 2012 at 6am at Orota Hospital following a brief illness. Today, his family, friends and readers are all here to bid farewell to this great man and on this occasion, we would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to everyone – his family, friends and readers. And in closing, may we pledge to erect Beyene’s Wala ever higher and adorn it with the grace that it deserves.
In Eternal Remembrance of our Martyrs
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For more information about Beyene Haile and his works, please visit the website set up in his tribute at
http://www.beyanhaile.com/
Yo can also join the Beyene Haile Facbook fanpage at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyene-Haile/323142851107825?ref=hl#
Received on Wed Aug 01 2012 - 12:17:40 EDT
