In memory of the Martyrdom of Dr. Yahya Jaber

By farajat on 03/09/2014

Dr. Jaber was born in the village of Ali Gidr, in the province of Qash–Setit in western Eritrea in 1938. He attended elementary school in his village, and then moved to the central city of Keren for secondary school. He later migrated west to Sudan, where he studied in Hantoub High School in the Jazeera area of Central Sudan. Afterwards, he briefly lived in Cairo, Egypt, and in the early 1960s, he moved with his best friend Khalifa Osman to Europe to look for opportunities for higher education. He eventually settled in Italy, where he completed his schooling. Although his father helped him with his finances, Dr. Jaber still worked at night, while studying during the day.

He began his college education in the University of Modena’s School of Medicine in Northern Italy, near the city of Bologna. He then moved to the University of Rome where he completed his medical studies, specializing in surgery. While in college, he worked as an assistant to an Italian doctor in order to fulfill the requirements of his studies at the College of Medicine. The Italians knew him first as an African, then as an Eritrean. His humanitarian role in volunteering to save the victims of an earthquake which occurred in southern Italy was attested to by his Italian colleagues and put him in high regard.

Dr. Yahya Jaber was instrumental in establishing the Eritrean–Italian Association, while also supporting the Eritrean Revolution on the side. He held seminars to enlighten his audience on issues within the African continent in general and Eritrea in particular. Within the Eritrean community, he was known among students as a leader as well as an activist, and worked tirelessly to support new Eritrean students by providing them with guidance and securing scholarships for them to pursue their college education. Moreover, Dr. Jaber actively organized Eritrean students within the Ethiopian mission, and coordinated his revolutionary political activities with other Eritrean student activists in Europe, including Herui Tedla Bairu, who joined the Eritrean student movement and eventually took part in the revolution.

According to Dr. Jaber’s comrades, he rebuked members of the Ethiopian diplomatic mission by actively working against them. His connections in Rome and throughout Italy helped him in his cause. Dr. Jaber’s reputation was held in such a high regard that it was reported that the first secretary of the Ethiopian Embassy in Italy later commented on his death, calling it a “great loss” for all of Africa. He described Dr. Jaber as a person worthy of his full respect, even though he was his political adversary. He knew him as a brave, bold, and tolerant man, even with his opponents, and acknowledged that Dr. Jaber adhered fully to the principles of his people in every aspect of his life.

For all of the unique characteristics that Dr. Yahya Jaber possessed, his death was viewed as a great loss for all of those who were acquainted with him. To honor his memory, all of the international student organizations within Italy dedicated a hall within the University of Rome in his name.Of his connections, friends of his within the Eritrean-Italian Association tried to go beyond the norms of religious establishments by holding memorial prayers in his name inside a church in Rome, Italy. However their efforts failed, as a result of differences in the religious norms of the two religions – Islam and Christianity.

One of the many admirable traits of which students from neighboring Sudan and Somalia testify to is Dr. Yahya Jaber’s undiscriminating generosity. Within his Eritrean scholarship granting program, when Eritrean students couldn’t arrive in time to attend the college and receive the scholarship, he awarded them instead to new Sudani and Somali students. Read more