We are hosting our Queen’s Birthday Party today, for many of our valued partners. And since it is 23rd April, we are at the same time marking the day of Saint George in many parts of the world, but also the anniversary of the birth and death of a great Englishman William Shakespeare. The standard of St George, patron saint of England, is flying over the Embassy today. And students from Addis Ababa University will be performing some extracts from Shakespeare’s plays.
We don’t know much about St George. He was soldier of noble birth, from Cappadocia, in modern Turkey. He lived in the 3rd century A. D. and was probably a tribune in the Roman army. He became a Christian; protested against Roman persecution of Christians; and was imprisoned, tortured and finally martyred by beheading. Much of the rest is shrouded in legend. But many automatically associate him with the slaying of a dragon in Libya and saving a beautiful princess. Symbolically, of course, the dragon may represent the Devil or possibly the Roman Emperor.
But what is most unusual is the extraordinary following St George has inspired since his death. He is venerated by Christians both in England and Ethiopia, one of many factors which binds us together. But he is patron saint too of many other countries, as well as regions and cities. By occupations ranging from boy scouts to farmers and butchers. And by sufferers from seriously unpleasant diseases. So in many ways St George is a symbol of globalism. And the virtues associated with him, such as courage, honour, gallantry and fortitude remain as important today as they ever were – perhaps more so. In that sense it doesn’t matter too much which of the stories about him are real and which not.
I suppose Shakespeare has primarily been known in Ethiopia since the Second World War and the subsequent choice of English as the language of education. (Though some of his references show he knew of Ethiopia.) He was performed here even under the repressive Derg regime, showing he offers something to absolutely everybody. But for a full appreciation of his role here, I have to refer you to the work of Professor Richard Pankhurst on this topic.One of Shakespeare’s most famous and stirring speeches reminds us that St George is also the patron saint of chivalry – of soldiers, cavalry and archers. It comes from the lips of Henry V at the Siege of Hurler in 1415:
“I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:
Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge
Cry “God for Harry! England and Saint George!”