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Martha Nassibou, daughter of Dejazmatch Nassibou Zamanuel and Woizero Atsede Babitcheff, was born in Addis Ababa in 1931. Shortly after the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Martha and all her family were taken to Italy where they lived as captives of the Fascist government from 1936 to 1944.
As a child, Martha was already displaying an interest and a knack for drawing and painting. Some years later, with hard work and dedication, she attended the International School in Geneva and studied art at the Académie des Beaux Arts in Paris and the Art Students League in New York.
Her first exhibition was held in 1945, when she was only 14, organized by the Ministry of Commerce in Addis Ababa on the occasion of the visit of the Queen of Greece.
She later worked for the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, who commissioned her to illustrate school books for children.
Since 1964, she has been living in Europe where she has continued to paint, exhibit, and execute commissioned work consisting mainly of portraits and large thematic canvases of Ethiopian inspiration.
Martha has taught drawing and painting to both children and adults. Although she favors oil and pastel, she likes to experiment with new media and has lately produced some electronic [digitized] paintings.
She is also a writer and a poet. She has recently published a book to honor the memory her father, Dejazmatch Nassibou Zamanuel, hero of the Ethiopian struggle against the occupying Italian army.
Martha has three children and three grandchildren. She currently lives in the south of France where she still paints and writes.
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For more info ... http://marthanassibou.blogspot.com/
