In the matter of language, it is generally known that, having received a French education, he had a perfect command of French and always preferred it for audiences and conversations with foreigners.

It is not so well known that he was also fluent in English, Italian and Arabic. The few instances when he undoubtedly spoke a short sentence in flawless German, responding exactly to an unforeseen situation, are not enough for it to be certain how much study he had given to that language, but he was certainly able to read it.

His mother tongue being Amharic, he also mastered the ancient ecclesiastical and literary language of Ethiopia, the Ge’ez. It has never been said which of the country’s numerous languages he could speak, but probably he knew Harari, Gilligan, Gurage and Tigrigna.

His solid knowledge of Latin, which enabled him to persue his secret medieval studies, has also escaped his biographers’ attention. There is a German saying: ‘As many language as you can speak, in that number of worlds are you at home.’

To those who at some time interviewed Haile Selassie, and all those who have so confidently and loftily describe, analyzed and judged him, such niceties meant nothing: those people were only at home in one world, and because Haile Selassie was a master at saying exactly what they wanted to hear, or what fitted into a given situation, their one world could remain intact.

There were times when he would listen in a most attentive and friendly way to a foreigner reporting to him on a subject which he himself knew more than the reporter, but he would let that person leave his presence with the impression that his presentation had been a success.