Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
Emerging from an idea discussed by Walter Harrelson, a dean at Vanderbilt University, and Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch Tēwoflos in December 1970, the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library was officially established on April 23, 1971. A joint venture based in Addis Ababa between Ethiopia’s Ministry of Culture, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewāḥedo Church, and the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, the project would begin microfilming manuscripts in Ethiopia in September 1973 with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and later from the Ford Foundation and the Ethiopian government. The final item (no. 9238) was microfilmed in 1994, by which time the project was fixed as the largest and most important source for the study of Ethiopic manuscripts. The only comprehensive set of EMML microfilms is today held by the National Archives and Library of Ethiopia, with less complete series found at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewāḥedo Church Patriarchate Library.
- HMML ID
- 979889352103
- PURL
- LC name
- Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
- HMML name
- Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
- Library of Congress
- VIAF
Variants
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
- E.M.M.L.
- EMML
- Institute for the Preservation of Religious Articles and Manuscripts of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church
- YaʼItyop̣yā ʼortodoks tawāḥedo béta kerestiyān. Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
Organization information
- Foundation date
- 1971-04-23
- Dissolution date
- 1994~
- Centuries
- 20th century CE
- Founding locations
- Locations
- Associated locations
- Countries
- Languages
- Fields of activity
Organization relationships
- Associates
- Ethiopian Orthodox Tawāḥedo Church (Partner)
- Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (Partner)
- Ethiopia. YaTemhertenā yaśena ṭebab ministér (Partner)
- Ethiopia. YaBāhelenā sport gudāy ministér (Partner)
- National Archives and Library of Ethiopia
- Getatchew Haile, 1931-2021 (Board member; Cataloger)
- Addis Ababa University. Institute of Ethiopian Studies
- Ḫāyla Śellāsē, Emperor of Ethiopia, 1892-1975 (Patron)
- Harrelson, Walter J., 1919-2012 (Chairman)
- Macomber, William F., 1921-2008 (Cataloger)
- Tēwoflos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawāḥedo Church, 1909-1979 (Patron)
- Sergew Hable-Selassie, 1929-2003 (Vice-chairman for research; Director)
- Taddesse Tamrat, 1935-2013 (Vice-chairman for research)
- Plante, Julian G., 1938-2023 (Vice-chairman for finance)
- Ethiopian Orthodox Tawāḥedo Church Patriarchate Library (Partner)
General notes
- Citations
- Columba Stewart, "A Brief History of the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library," in Studies in Ethiopian Languages, Literature, and History: Festschrift for Getatchew Haile, ed. Adam Carter McCollum (Aethiopistische Forschungen 83; Wiesbaden, 2017), 447-472.
Preferred citation
Change notes
- Date added
- 2023-01-30
- Last edited
- 2023-01-30