Déjatch Alámayou, King Theodore's Son

Julia Margaret Cameron

July 1868 · Albumen silver print from glass negative · Photographs

Déjatch Alámayou was taken to England after the British defeat of the Ethiopians at the battle of Magdala and the suicide of his father, Tewodros (Theodore) II, emperor of Ethiopia, in April 1868. Queen Victoria took an interest in Alámayou and saw to his education and protection, placing him in the care of Captain Tristram Speedy, who, like Cameron, had a home on the Isle of Wight. Speedy brought the child to Cameron’s house shortly after his arrival in England, and Cameron made ten photographs of the captain and his charge posed among Ethiopian exotica. In this image, the young orphaned prince cradles a little white doll and stares sadly into space, seemingly lost in thought. His name, Alámayou, means “I have seen the world.”

Artist

Julia Margaret Cameron

Date

July 1868

Medium

Albumen silver print from glass negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005