Eritrea has lost a mother whose life belonged not only to her family, but also to the long and difficult story of a nation.
W/ro Adanesh Berhe, the mother of President Isaias Afwerki and his brothers, passed away at the age of 97. Her departure is a moment of private grief for her family, but it is also a moment of national remembrance for many Eritreans who understand what her generation carried, endured and gave.
She was born in Asmara in 1929, in an Eritrea that had not yet become free, and lived long enough to witness the birth, survival and consolidation of the independent nation her children helped serve. Her lifetime crossed colonial rule, federation, annexation, armed struggle, independence and statehood. Few lives can carry so much history quietly.
Adey Adanesh belonged to a generation of Eritrean women whose sacrifices were often made without speeches, without medals and without public attention. They raised children in hardship. They kept families together in uncertain times. They gave their sons and daughters to a national cause whose outcome was never guaranteed. They endured absence, fear, loss and sacrifice with a strength that became part of Eritrea’s moral foundation.
In her case, that sacrifice entered the heart of Eritrea’s national history. She was the mother of President Isaias Afwerki, who would become one of the central figures of Eritrea’s liberation struggle and the country’s first President after independence in 1993. She was also the mother of brothers remembered among Eritrea’s heroes, men whose lives became tied to the price paid for national freedom.
But beyond the public names and historical roles, she remained first a mother.
That is what makes her story powerful. Nations are often remembered through leaders, battles, martyrs, declarations and flags. But behind every national struggle stand mothers who waited, prayed, worked, endured and buried pain in silence. Their sacrifice was rarely recorded in official files or announced from public stages. It was carried at home, in years of waiting, in children raised with discipline, and in the pain mothers learned to hide.
Adey Adanesh belonged to that generation.
Her life is a reminder that Eritrea’s independence was not carried only by fighters at the front. It was also carried by mothers who gave their children, their strength and their peace of mind to a cause bigger than one family. It was carried by families who accepted hardship without knowing whether victory would come. It was protected by women whose courage was expressed through patience, discipline and faith.
For this reason, her passing is more than a family obituary. It is the farewell of a generation.
At 97, W/ro Adanesh Berhe leaves behind a long life marked by family, sacrifice, endurance and national memory. She witnessed the struggle of her people, the sacrifices of her children, and the independence of Eritrea. She lived to see a country for which so many gave their youth, their comfort and their lives.
The Mesob Journal extends its deepest condolences to President Isaias Afwerki, to the wider family of W/ro Adanesh Berhe, and to all Eritreans.
May her family find strength in the dignity of her life.
May Eritrea remember her as one of the mothers who carried the nation through its most difficult chapters.
Thank you, Adey Adanesh.
Farewell, and rest in peace.
