Ethiopia To Construct 2nd Monument To Russian Poet Pushkin In Addis Ababa - Ambassador

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th August, 2019) Ethiopia is going to construct the second monument to famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin in the capital of Addis Ababa, the country's ambassador to Russia, Alemayehu Tegenu, told Sputnik.

Pushkin (1799-1837) was a descendant of Abram Gannibal, a military engineer and general, who was likely to be born in the northern part of Abyssinia, or the Ethiopian Empire, in the end of the 17th century. Gannibal, whose origin is still a matter of dispute, was enslaved by the Ottoman Empire and then sent as a gift to Russian Emperor Peter the Great.

"There is a monument in Addis Ababa. There is a Russian cultural center in Addis Ababa ... There is a square in the capital city of Ethiopia. In the future there is a plan to construct a big monument for Pushkin," Tegenu said.

He added that a team of Ethiopian architects and historians was working on the project, without going into further details.

Addis Ababa has one small monument to Pushkin near the Pushkin Square.