Emperor Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari)
Ethiopia
(1892-1975)

When Empress Zawditu died in 1930, he was succeeded, in accordance with the earlier compact, by Tafari Makonen, who assumed the throne as Emperor Haile Selassie.    

News of his coronation, in November, was not without its impact outside the country.  In particular, it gave birth to the Ras Tafari movement in Jamaica, where the idea gained ground that a postcard bearing the emperor's photograph would serve as a passport enabling its holder to return to Africa.  (continued...)

SOURCE: Encyclopaedia Africana: Dictionary of African Biography®™ Volume 1: Ethiopia & Ghana, Page 33