Aman Mikael Andom (21 June 1924-23 November 1974) was Chairman of the Derg from 12 September to 17 November 1974, preceding Tafari Benti. He seized power from Haile Selassie in the Ethiopian Revolution, only to be killed in a shootout with his former supporters later that year.
Biography[]
Aman Andom was born in Tseazega, Italian Eritrea in 1924; his mother was from the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. He served as a general of Haile Selassie during the border clashes between Ethiopia and Somalia, only to be dismissed in 1964 when he launched an unauthorized attack on Somalia. He was instead relegated to the Senate from 1964 to 1974 as a means of removing him from military command, only to seize power from Haile Selassie in the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974 and become the first chairman of the communist military junta nicknamed the "Derg". However, he and his fellow junta members disagreed as to whether he was the junta's chairman or its spokesman, and he also refused to sanction the executions of several high-ranking officials and noblemen from the Ethiopian Empire. In addition, he also sought to make peace with the Eritrean independence movement rather than militarily crush it. When the Derg began to execute political opponents without Aman's consent, Aman appealed to the military to overthrow the Derg. However, Mengistu Haile Mariam intercepted these appeals and sent troops to arrest Andom at his home, leading to a shootout in which Aman was killed.