Haile Selassie I (Ge'ez: ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ qädamawi haylä səllasé; Amharic: [ha.ɪlɜ sɨlːase][nb 2] listen (help·info)) (23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael,[4] was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He was the heir to a dynasty that traced its origins by tradition from King Solomon and Queen Makeda, Empress of Axum, known in the Abrahamic tradition as the Queen of Sheba. Haile Selassie is a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history.[5][6]