Tekie Fissehatsion
(VOA) — Distinguished Eritrean scholar and economist, Dr. Tekie Fissehatsion, died last week of a brain tumor. He was receiving medical treatment at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. A memorial service was held on April 24.
Tekie was an economist and author or several books on Eritrea, regional economics and political conflicts. He also served on the commission that drafted a constitution for Eritrea when the nation declared its independent in 1991.The constitution was never enacted and Tekie became an advocate of its implementation. He became chairman of the department of economics at Morgan State University in 1991. He came to the United States in 1964.
Among books he wrote are “Prospects for Economic Cooperation Between Eritrea and Its Neighbors,” “Economic Cooperation in the Horn of Africa,” and “Shattered Illusion and Broken Promise: Essays on the Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict,” published in 2003.
Three colleagues of Tekie spoke with Tewlede Tesfagabir abtu his life and career: Dr. Gebrehiwet Tesfagiorgis of the University of Iowa; Alemseged Tesfay, a writer and historian; and Kasshun Chekol, whose Red Sea Publishing Company in New Jersey published his books.