Earliest known biography of an African woman translated to English for the first time

Ethiopian noblewoman Walatta Petros left her husband to stop spread of Roman Catholicism, possibly fell in love with a fellow nun and was elevated to sainthood

The earliest known book-length biography of an African woman, a 17th-century text detailing the life of the Ethiopian saint Walatta Petros, has been translated into English for the first time.

Walatta Petros was an Ethiopian religious leader who lived from 1592 to 1642. A noblewoman, she left her husband to lead the struggle against the Jesuits’ mission to convert Ethiopian Christians to Roman Catholicism. It was for this that the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwaḥədo Church elevated her to sainthood.

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