15 Most Famous People from Eritrea  

Joe Neguse – Congressman. Photo By Franmarie – Wikimedia Commons

15 Most Famous People from Eritrea  

*Originally published by Beatrice W in October 2023 and Updated by Vanessa R in May 2024

Eritrea is a country in Eastern Africa with its capital at Asmara. It has a Red Sea coastline and the best colonial architectural structures in the world. The people have interesting cultures that remain intact, diverse, and colorful.  

Eritrea’s population growth rate is among the lowest in the world because more people emigrate from the country than immigrate to it. Many people fled the country when the struggle for independence from Italy and later from Ethiopia was ongoing. Others are still leaving even now when the country is under the increasingly repressive regime of Pres. Isaias Afwerki, having been in power since independence in 1993. 

The number of celebrities from the country is impressive. Here are the 15 most famous people from Eritrea. 

1. Joe Neguse  

Joseph D. Neguse is an American lawyer and politician who was elected as the U.S. representative for Colorado’s 2nd congressional district in 2019. He was born on 13th May 1984 in Bakersfield, California to his parents Debesai and Azeib Neguse, both Eritreans who had immigrated to the United States in the early 1980s. Joe is the first Black American to represent Colorado in the House and was only 34 years when he was voted in. 

The congressman, who is a son of immigrants, supports immigration reform and serves as the vice chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. He supports a pathway for citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the U.S.  

2. Tiffany Haddish

Tiffany Haddish – Comedian. Photo By Nicole – Wikimedia Commons.

Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is famous for her role in the comedy movie Girls Trip. She was born on 3rd December 1979 in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Leola, is a Christian African American while her father, Tsihaye Reda Haddish, was a Jewish refugee from Eritrea. 

Time magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018, while The Hollywood Reporter listed her among the 100 most powerful people in entertainment in both 2018 and 2019. Haddish also won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2018 and a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 2021. 

Haddish first visited Eritrea in 2018 to bury her Eritrean father and to connect with her paternal relatives. She has always spoken passionately about her Eritrean heritage and her strong bond with her family. She became a naturalized Eritrean citizen in May 2019 and had her bat mitzvah ceremony in December of that year at the age of 40. 

3. Bereket Mengisteab  

Bereket Mengisteab is a well-known Eritrean songwriter, composer, and singer. He is regarded as the Godfather of Eritrean music. Bereket was born in 1938 at Hazega, a village not far from Asmara, the capital of Eritrea.  

Growing up in a farming village, he taught himself to play the Krar and took part in the musical events that were part of the local rural culture. He moved to Asmara where his musical performances were limited to his friends before moving to Addis Ababa and joining the Haile Selassie Theater Orchestra. 

In the mid-1970s Bereket was the only Eritrean artist whose music was playing on the radio. His Krar music and usage of the Tigrinya language made him popular. When Eritrea was fighting for independence in the 70s, Mengisteab joined the Eritrean Liberation Front and formed a band that used to perform revolutionary songs, nationalist anthems, and ballads in military camps and villages.  

He has composed over 250 songs and has recorded about 200 of those. 

4. Helen Meles  

Helen Meles is an Eritrean singer and actress. She began her musical career early, at the age of eight, when she joined the Kassala, Sudan-based Red Flowers band. The group was formed by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF)’s local education branch. With the band, she performed in different parts of Sudan as a lead singer. 

At the age of 15 in 1988, Helen joined the EPLF, where she was enrolled in the organization’s revolutionary school. She is known for her successful transition from an ex-war combatant to a prominent singer. She has released several albums and appeared in many top-rated Eritrean films. 

5. Meb Keflezighi 

Meb Keflezighi. Photo By Julian Mason – Wikimedia Commons

Mebrahtom “Meb” Keflezighi is a retired Eritrean-born American long-distance runner. He is a three-time national champion in cross-country running, having won the USA Cross Country Championships in 2001, 2002, and 2009. He is also the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon. 

Meb was born on 5th May 1975 in Asmara, Eritrea. His family left Eritrea for the United States as refugees via Italy and settled in San Diego, California in 1987. His parents are Awetash and Russom Keflezighi.  

Med became a naturalized United States citizen in 1998, which was the same year he graduated from UCLA. 

6. Zeudi Araya  

Zeudi Araya is an Eritrean former actress, singer, model, and film producer. She was born on 10th February 1951 in Dekemhare, Eritrea. Her father was a politician, and her uncle was a diplomat in Rome. 

Araya was Miss Eritrea in 1969. On a journey to Italy in 1972, she recorded a commercial for coffee and was discovered by the director Luigi Scattini. From then on, she acted several roles in erotic-themed movies, most of them directed by Scattini. Her last appearance was in 1983 before she withdrew from acting and started producing movies. 

She is a naturalized Italian and is in a relationship with Massimo Spano, a director, with whom she has a son. 

7. Abraham Afewerki

Abraham Afewerki was an Eritrean singer, songwriter, and music producer. He was born on 30th January 1966 in Asmara, Eritrea. His interest in music started from an early age and he learned how to play the harmonica and later the krar. Afewerki is well known for his unique Tigrinya-based compositions and lyrics. 

On 7th October 2006, at the age of 40 years, Afewerki drowned when he tried to save a friend in the Red Sea near Massawa. He was a good person and is one of the most famous Eritreans. Afewerki continues to be held in high regard posthumously and his music is reproduced by other musicians singing in different languages apart from Tigrinya. 

8. Azie Tesfai 

Azie Tesfai. Photo By TheDCTVshow – Wikimedia Commons

Azie Tesfai is an American actress best known for her television roles in Jane the Virgin and Supergirl. She was born on 20th December 1992 in Los Angeles, California and her parents were Eritrean immigrants. Her mother luckily got a nursing scholarship and that is how she went to the States.   

Tesfai is a first-generation immigrant whose family hails from Ethiopia and Eritrea, where most of her family still resides. The actress founded a jewelry company called Fortuned Culture whose sales proceeds go towards helping children in developing countries like Eritrea. 

9. Zersenay Tadese 

Zersenay Tadese is an Eritrean long-distance track and road running athlete. For 8 years, he held the men’s half marathon world record, that is from 2010 to 2018. The soft-spoken athlete was born on 8th February 1982 in Adi Bana, Eritrea.   

Zersenay dedicates his victories to his country Eritrea and his great performance makes him a popular sportsman and public figure that his country’s people are very proud of.   

10. Ella Thomas 

Actress Ella A. Thomas. Photo By Groovepup – Wikimedia Commons

Ella A. Thomas is an Eritrean American actress, model, and producer. She was born on 15th August 1981 in Asmara, Eritrea. Her mother was an Eritrean while her father was an American Air Force officer, who was working in Eritrea at the time. Ella moved to Kindsbach, Germany with her family when she was young, but they always made frequent trips to Asmara to visit her mother’s family, until a civil war ravaging the country made it unsafe for them to travel. 

Ella started acting by taking part in local school and theater productions. The family again moved to the United States. Her breakthrough happened when she met Brenda Hampton, creator of 7th Heaven, at a charity event. Hampton was looking for an East African actress for an upcoming episode of the series and she gave Ella a guest star role in a traditional dress. Since then, Ella has appeared in many top TV series and movies.  

11. Nipsey Hussle

Nipsey Hussle, the acclaimed rapper, was born in Los Angeles to an Eritrean father and an African-American mother. After spending years building his career independently, Hussle was poised for major success following the critical acclaim of his 2018 Grammy-nominated album “Victory Lap”.

Tragically, on March 31, 2019, Hussle was fatally shot outside his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles. He is survived by a daughter from a previous relationship and a son with actress Lauren London.

12. Nat Berhe

Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nat Berhe is a former NFL player who was born in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, to an Eritrean father and an African-American mother. His family emigrated from Eritrea to the United States when he was a child.

In 2014, Berhe made history by becoming the first Eritrean-American player to be drafted into the NFL. The New York Giants selected him with the 152nd overall pick in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Berhe played safety for the Giants from 2014 to 2017 before injuries cut his NFL career short. Despite his relatively brief time in the league, Berhe’s journey to the pros as the first Eritrean-American draftee served as an inspiration for aspiring football players from the East African country.

13. J. Holiday

R&B singer J. Holiday, born Nahum Thorton Grymes, rose to fame in 2007 with the breakthrough success of his single “Bed”. The song peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. That same year, J. Holiday’s debut album “Back of My Lac” also reached number five on the Billboard 200 album chart, solidifying his status as a breakout R&B star.

Beyond his musical accomplishments, J. Holiday’s personal background is notable – he was born in Asmara, Eritrea to an Eritrean father and an African-American mother before emigrating to the United States as a child. His Eritrean heritage made him one of the few prominent R&B artists of Eritrean descent to achieve mainstream success in the US music industry.

14. Merhawi Kudus

Hoebele, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Merhawi Kudus is an accomplished professional cyclist from Eritrea. He began his cycling career as a youth in Eritrea, quickly establishing himself as a rising talent in the sport. In 2014, Kudus turned professional and joined the Eritrean cycling team MTN-Qhubeka (now called Team NTT).

Since then, he has competed at the highest levels of international cycling, participating in prestigious races like the Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana, and the Tour de France. Kudus has won stages in major tours and has been a consistent top finisher, demonstrating the strength and endurance that Eritrean cyclists are known for. His success has made him one of the most prominent Eritrean athletes on the global cycling stage, inspiring other young cyclists from the East African nation to pursue their dreams in the sport.

15. Berhane Ghebreghzabhier

Berhane Ghebreghzabhier is a renowned Eritrean musician and composer. He is known for blending traditional Eritrean music with contemporary sounds and styles. Ghebreghzabhier has released several acclaimed albums that showcase his talent as a singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist.

He is celebrated in Eritrea and across the Eritrean diaspora for helping to preserve and evolve Eritrean musical heritage. Ghebreghzabhier’s music has gained international recognition, making him one of the most prominent cultural ambassadors for Eritrea on the global stage.