Araya Selassie Yohannes

Araya Selassie Yohannes (1867–1888) was an army commander and a member of the royal family of the Ethiopian Empire.

Araya Selassie Yohannes was born in Enderta, a part of Tigray in Ethiopia in 1867, the legitimate son of Emperor ()Yohannes IV of Ethiopia. Mengesha Yohannes was his illegitimate half brother.

In 1882, the fifteen-year-old Leul Araya Selassie Yohannes married six-year-old Zewditu, eldest daughter of Menelik of Shewa. The marriage was political, having been arranged when Menelik agreed to submit to Yohannes' rule.

In 1883, Araya Selassie Yohannes was made of Wollo Province and, in 1886, he was made Shum of Begemder Province.

In 1885, Araya Selassie Yohannes fathered a son, Gugsa Araya Selassie. The mother's identity is unknown.

In June 1888, while in Mek'ele gathering an army for his father, Araya Selassie Yohannes died of smallpox.

Familial rivalry between the two lines of descent from Emperor Yohannes IV proved to be a difficult issue for Emperor Menelik II and his successors. Tigray Province was divided between Ras Gugsa Araya Selassie, the son of Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes, and Ras Seyum Mangasha, the son of Ras Mangasha Yohannes. Gugsa Araya Selassie ruled the eastern half of Tigray and Seyum Mangasha ruled the western half.

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