JOHN MORAITIS 

 John Moraitis was  a  man who has  experienced Ethiopia of the twentieth century on almost its entirety... from the coronation of the Emperor Haile Selassie to the Italian occupation, from prosperity to the worst of the communist era..

His  father  Mr. Nicolas Moraitis  was a successful businessman and owned a tobacco factory in Cairo.. he   came to Addis Ababa at the invitation of  prominent  Armenian  businessmen Messrs. Keverkoff and Minassian that had obtained a tobacco monopoly from Emperor Menelik II and they needed someone with the technical skills to manage the big project , . Armenian friends in Cairo recommended Mr.Nicolas Moraitis the father of John who came to Addis and took over and organized the newly established coffee industry ..

His son John Moraitis born in 1905 in Addis was fluent in Greek ,English,  French, Italian and Arabic due to his studies in Egypt and Cyprus ...he also  spoke fluent amharic...due to the fact that he was polyglot,  he was highly demanded as an employee ... he started working at the only  bank  existed in Ethiopia, the Abyssinian bank owned by the British , as an accountant and then he was  promoted to a a higher managerial post.... John  found it enthralling.  The customers were foreigners,  members of the ruling  family and aristocracy... with his knowledge of English,  French,  amharic and Greek proved  to be an asset in the bank's ability to offer services in a cosmopolitan atmosphere...

In 1930 Ethiopia bought the bank of Abyssinia from its British owners and it was transformed into the Bank of Ethiopia allowing John to continue to advance in his career.. within 10 years he was one of the three top personalities in the bank...

Early in 1936, John  accepted an offer,  which would have a very significant impact on his life; he began his thirty year career with Reuters as correspondent and representative in Ethiopia.  during the occupation of the Italians he escaped to Djibouti where he collaborated  with a group of  top ethiopian patriots  and was  hosted  by his friend Afa Mesfin Andargchew Messay who was the unofficial Consul...  a very dynamic and smart person who  soon climbed up in the hierarchy and after the war Andargatcew would marry the emperor"s  daughter,  Princess Tenagnework widow of Ras Desta Damtew.. 

John in exile  continued  transmitting news via Reuters and through them  to associated press covering news from Ethiopia all over the world...

After the liberation of Ethiopia from the fascists he was summoned together  with other prominent patriots to the palace and decorated by the Emperor for his services to the country and thereafter assumed high governmental functions...

He was appointed to set up the  cigarette monopoly where the first  ethiopian cigarettes were produced,  among them , the well known brand of  Kitele Work...

One of the first visitors at the factory was Emperor Haile Selassie who showed kin interest in the project as the original plan  was to import new machines from Germany that were costly instead of repairing  the old ones that were out of order... a time frame  of three months was given, at the request of Moraitis, to make  it functional which he did by driving to Asmara bringing two workers from eritrea that were working in the tobacco company there that had the same type of machines with the help of two Italian mechanics ...

The Emperor  was impressed by the progress  that was made  and gave extra  bonus to the workers for their fast and excellent performance under the leadership of Moraitis who had thereafter an easy access to the palace...

Mr. John Moraitis  created  personal relationship with the then minister of pen Tshehafi Tizaz Wolde Ghiorgis wolde Michael who was the most powerful man in the government...

After 5 years in the tobacco industry he was appointed as chief inspector at the ministry of  post and communications...

 Minister of PTT  was  the ex consul in Djibouti and friend of John  during the Italian occupation ,  Endargachew Messai with whom John had  collaborated during their exile there..

A frequent visitor of Taitu Hotel in Addis ,   during his youth , John met several times the then heir of the throne Lidj Yassou who enjoyed playing billiards at the haul of the hotel 

... unfortunately the last time John saw him was in a remote place  confined in a room  of 6 meters length after he was overthroned by the nobility who appointed Ras Tefferi instead as a  regent to Empres Zewiditu and  then crowned him   Emperor carrying the name Haile Selassie I ...

 Moraitis  managed  to visit lidj yassou  due to  his reputation as a  patriot and friend of Ethiopia.... .the head of the security   granted him the permit 

 ...  Moraitis was allowed to stay 15 minutes.... Lidj Yassou was in a bad condition,   the two men embraced each other the Ethiopian way and Lidj Yiyasu confessed to him that he has made many grave misdeeds to the nobility and  mainly he offended the then powerful minister of war fitawrary Habte Ghiorgis who  headed a plot against him while he was away of Addis Ababa that led to his overthrow and confinement in jail..

Mr. John Moraitis was married to Katia Vaias 

and  had two children Nickolas and Magdalini- Maggie..

Nickolas is the creator and owner of the well known web magazine www.anagnostis.au  and www.ausgreeknet.com.au  published in Melbourne Australia  which is  published in 40 languages and has viewers all over the world..

Amongst the countries,  is his birth place Ethiopia  ... for over 18 years, he has covered every activity mainly of the greek community ,  with historical information,  plethora of articles,  photographs, live videos and interviews. 

I met Mr. John Moraitis in Addis Ababa and had the opportunity to discuss with him  several times..I  admired his energy,  deep knowledge  about Ethiopia not pararelled with others,  good temper and pleasant personality...

Although he had the opportunity to leave Ethiopia during the military regime he preferred to stay in Addis which he loved very much and consider his home...

Even the book he wrote at his mid nineties had the title " ETHIOPIA MY HOME"

A very interesting biography from within enriched with historical events and rare photography...

Mr.John Moraitis passed away at the deep age of 100 years old...

I gathered  information from various sources and from his book