https://en.sputniknews.africa/20241203/ethiopian-war-heros-family-tries-to-recover-his-medal-emerged-at-auction-decades-later-report-says-1069535527.html
Ethiopian War Hero's Family Tries to Recover His Medal Emerged at Auction Decades Later, Report Says
Ethiopian War Hero's Family Tries to Recover His Medal Emerged at Auction Decades Later, Report Says
Sputnik Africa
The medal was allegedly stolen by an Italian soldier who was present at Desta's execution, when the Ethiopian hero was captured during the Second... 03.12.2024, Sputnik Africa
2024-12-03T18:12+0100
2024-12-03T18:12+0100
2024-12-03T18:12+0100
sub-saharan africa
ethiopia
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italy
east africa
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museums
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Ethiopian war hero general Ras Desta Damtew's family is fighting to recover his medal emerged at an online auction after decades when it was stolen, an art newspaper said in a report.The family, represented by a lawyer of Art Recovery International, a company providing stolen and looted art recovery services, considers the medal to be looted war trophies and objects to its sale for profit, and the family's goal is to secure the relic for an Ethiopian museum, the report noted. Despite contacting the auction house, La Galerie Numismatique, and the Ethiopian Heritage Authority intervening, the auction failed to meet its reserve price. The auction house offered to sell the medal back to the family for a significantly increased price, a demand the family and their legal representative deemed unacceptable.
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ethiopia, culture, history, italy, east africa, war, museums, auction, artifact, world war ii, memory, traditions
ethiopia, culture, history, italy, east africa, war, museums, auction, artifact, world war ii, memory, traditions
Ethiopian War Hero's Family Tries to Recover His Medal Emerged at Auction Decades Later, Report Says
Alla Shukanova
Writer / Editor
The medal was allegedly stolen by an Italian soldier who was present at Desta's execution, when the Ethiopian hero was captured during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1937, the report said.
Ethiopian war hero general Ras Desta Damtew's family is
fighting to recover his medal emerged at an online auction after decades when it was stolen, an art newspaper said in a report.
"It’s literally a medal taken from the dead body of our grandfather," grandson Amaha Kassa told the art newspaper about the family relic with an estimated value of €60,000 – 90,000 ($63,200 – 94,800) that is listed at an online auction, offered by La Galerie Numismatique company for the minimum asking price of €48,000 ($50,500).
The family, represented by a lawyer of Art Recovery International, a company providing stolen and looted art recovery services, considers the medal to be looted war trophies and objects to its sale for profit, and the family's goal is to secure the relic for an Ethiopian museum, the report noted.
Despite contacting
the auction house, La Galerie Numismatique, and the Ethiopian Heritage Authority intervening, the auction failed to meet its reserve price. The auction house offered to sell the medal back to the family for a significantly increased price, a demand the family and their legal representative deemed unacceptable.
"These are outrageous, insensitive demands for stolen property with colonial-era provenance," the newspaper quoted the lawyer of Art Recovery International as saying, while commenting on the auction's requests.
