Naigzy Gebremedhin Obituary

August 11, 1934-July 18, 2026

Naigzy Gebremedhin was born on August 11, 1934, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Aster Woldemariam and Gebremedhin Habtegzi, devoted members of the Mekane Yesus Lutheran Church. His parents placed enormous value on education, and Naigzy excelled from an early age.

At Colonel Wingate School in Addis Ababa, he quickly distinguished himself both academically and athletically. An agile boxer and the school's respected Head Boy, he became known for instilling discipline, fairness, and respect among his fellow students—with perhaps just a tiny bit of fear mixed in.

His academic success earned him one of the scholarships awarded by Emperor Haile Selassie I for study abroad. In the mid-1950s, he traveled to Lawrence, Kansas, to study civil engineering at the University of Kansas.

It was a world far removed from the one he knew. As a young Ethiopian studying in America during the era of segregation, he encountered a society with unfamiliar customs and rules that dictated where someone like him could eat, drink, or simply exist. Yet he adapted with resilience, curiosity, and good humor. He studied hard, made lifelong friends, and developed stories he would tell for decades—including regularly defeating his dormitory roommate, the future basketball legend Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain, at table tennis, often at the cost of Chamberlain buying the soft drinks afterward.

After graduating, Naigzy returned to Ethiopia, where he devoted himself to helping build a modernizing nation. As both an engineer and a teacher (and the youngest ever dean of the Building College) he shared his knowledge with the next generation of architects, engineers, and builders.

Around this same time, another lifelong passion began. At just 25 years old, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, in an attempt to be the fastest to reach the peak. His equipment was simple: boots fitted with nails for traction, a towel wrapped around his head for warmth, and a leather jacket purchased in Kansas. It was enough. He would climb Kilimanjaro again at ages 50, 75, and 80.

If Kilimanjaro became his tradition, Mount Kenya became his true mountain. He reached its summit fourteen times and, at age 90, became the oldest person known to have completed the climb—a record he still holds.

In the late 1960s, Naigzy completed a Master's degree in Architecture and Town Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Amid his studies and growing career, he married Mehret Samuel, and together they welcomed three children: Mike (1969), Marta (1972), and Moges (1973).

In the mid-1970s, the family moved to Nairobi, Kenya, which would remain home for many decades. There, Naigzy joined the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), beginning a distinguished international career dedicated to helping countries develop more environmentally sustainable human settlements. His work took him around the world, combining technical expertise with a deep commitment to improving people's lives.

Following his retirement from the United Nations in the mid-1990s, Naigzy answered another calling. After Eritrea gained its independence, he volunteered his time and expertise to help establish the country's first Ministry of Environment and contribute to the development of its first national environmental strategy.

His lifelong love of architecture also found new expression. In retirement, he helped document Eritrea's remarkable Art Deco architectural heritage in a beautifully illustrated book that remains widely regarded as one of the finest works on the subject.

Yet for all of his professional accomplishments, family was always the center of Naigzy's life.

His happiest years were spent moving between the homes of his children: with Marta and her family in Maryland, with Moges and his family in Kenya, and with Mike during his years living in Cambodia. Wherever he went, he quickly became part of the local community. Neighbors, friends, and even strangers were drawn to his warmth, quiet wisdom, and remarkable gift for conversation. He was constantly being welcomed into homes, restaurants, and gatherings, leaving lasting friendships wherever he lived.

He was equally devoted to his extended family. He took great joy in organizing family reunions that brought together siblings, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren from around the world. The last of these joyful gatherings took place in January 2026.

Naigzy passed away peacefully at home in Silver Spring, MD on July 18, 2026, surrounded by those who loved him most: his three children—Mike, Marta, and Moges—and his younger brother, Ezra.

He leaves behind not only buildings, books, and institutions that benefited from his work, but generations of family, friends, students, colleagues, climbers, and neighbors whose lives were enriched simply by knowing him. He lived with quiet determination, endless curiosity, deep generosity, and unwavering integrity. His life was one of service, adventure, learning, and love, and he will be profoundly missed.

ንኣስመራ ኣብ ዩኔስኮ ናይ ምምዝጋብ መስርሕ ፈለማ ዘበገሰ ኤርትራዊ ምሁር ዓሪፉ!
- “ኤርትራ ናጽነታ እንተረኺባ ዓደይ ኣትየ ብዘይደሞዝ ከገልግል‘የ“ መብጽዓ ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ

ተቐሪቡ‘ዩ ጸኒሑ። “ዕቃበ ስነ-ኣከባቢ ዘጠቓልል ትካል ክነቕውም ደሊና‘ሞ ነቲ ስራሕ ክትመርሓልና“ ዝብል መልእኽቲ ካብ ግዝያዊ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ምስ ተቐበለ ኣይተማትአን። መብጽዓ ነይሩዎ እንድዩ። “ኤርትራ ናጽነታ እንተረኺባ ናብ ዓደይ ኣትየ ብዘይደሞዝ ክሰርሕ‘የ“ ዝብል መብጽዓ። እቲ ግዜ ፈለማ 1992 እዩ። ኤርትራ ክቡር ደም ደቃ ከፊላ ናጽነታ ካብ እተረጋግጽ ናይ ኣዋርሕ ዕድመ ጥራይ ነበራ።
ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ገብረመድህን ኣብ ትካል ስነ-ኣከባቢ ውድብ ሕቡራት ሃገራት {UNEP} ዳይረክተር ምብራቕ ኣፍሪቃ ኮይኑ ን18 ዓመታት ሰሪሑ ብምንባሩ እቲ ብመንግስቲ ኤርትራ ዝወሃቦ ዘሎ ከቢድ ዕማም ንዕኡ ቀንዲ ሞያኡ እዩ። ጠቕሊሉ ናብ ሃገሩ ብምእታው ድማ ቤት ጽሕፈት ምምሕዳር ኣከባቢ ኤርትራ መስሪቱ።

ናይግዚ ገብረመድህን ብነሓሰ 1934 ካብ ኣቦኡ ኣቶ ገብረመድህን ሃብተእግዚን ወይዘሮ ኣስቴር ወልደማርያምን ኣብ ኣዲስ ኣበባ ተወሊዱ። ወላዲቱ ወይዘሮ ኣስቴር ንሓርበኛ ወልደኣብ ወልደማርያም ምዕባዮም ሓብቶም እየን።
ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ንነብሱ ብትምህርትን ስፖርትን እዩ ሃኒጹዋ። ኣብ ስፖርት ተጓሳጣይ ነይሩ። ኣብ ቅድድም መኪና ብምስታፍ‘ውን ኣብ ኬንያ ብዙሕ ግዜ ተዓዊቱ እዩ። ኣብ እምባታት ብምሕኳር‘ውን ፍሉጥ ነይሩ። ነቲ ናይ ኣፍሪቃ ዝነውሐ እምባ ክሊማንጃሮ ሽዱሽተ ግዜ ብምሕኳር ኣብ ዝባኑ ደዪቡ ባንዴራ ኤርትራ ከንበልብል በቒዑ። ካብኡ ትሕት ኣብ ዝብል እምባ ኬንያ ከኣ 14 ግዜ ሓዂሩ ኣሎ።
ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ገብረመድህን ብ1998 እውን ካብ ፕረዚደንት ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ካልእ ናይ ስራሕ ደብዳበ ተዋሂቡ። ከምቲ ንኽፍሊ ኣከባቢ መስሪቱ መሰረት ዘትሓዞ ካልእ ዓቢ ሃገራዊ ዕማም ከበግስ ዝገልጽ ነይሩ እቲ ወረቐት። ብቐንዱ ንታሪኻዊ ስነ-ህንጻ ከተማ ኣስመራ {ኣርትዴኮ} ናይ ምዕቃብ ዕማም። ብዓውዲ ስነ ህንጻ ማስተርስ ዲግሪ ሰቒሉ ነይሩ እዩ።

ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ምስ ካልኦት መሻርኽቲ ብምዃን ዝዓበየ ዕማሙ ምዕቃብ ኣርትዴኮ ዝኾነ ‘ውጥን ዕቃበ ባህላዊ ቅርሲ‘ ዝተባህለ መንግስታዊ ቤት ጽሕፈት ብምቛም ነቲ ስራሕ ኣበጊሱዎ። እቲ ትካል ጥሪት ጥንታዊ ክርስትናን ምስልምናን ናይ ምዕቃብን ካልእ ዕማማት ናይ ምፍጻምን ዓበይቲ መደባት፡ነይሩዎ። ዓሚቚ ምርምርን ስነዳን ብምክያድን ዝኣክል ተሞክሮ ምስ ተቐስመሉን ድማ እቲ ኣብ ዩኔስኮ ናይ ምምዝጋብ ዕማም ጀሚሩዎ። ኣስመራ ጥራይ ዘይኮነት ቈሓይቶ፡ መጠራ፡ ኣዱሊስን ድፋዓት ናቕፋን‘ውን ኣብቲ መዝገብ ውርሻ ዓለም ክምዝገቡ ዘኽእሎም መጽናዕቲ ኣብ ምክያድ ተጸሚዱ።

ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ገብረመድህን ዕድመ ስለዝደፍአን ጥዕና ስለዘይረኸበን እቲ ዝተዋህቦ ከቢድ ዕማማት ድማ ብዓወት ስለዘሰላሰለን ድሕሪ ናይ 14 ጽዑቕ ሃገራዊ ዕማም ብ2006 ዓ.ም ወግዓዊ ስንብት ሓቲቱ ብኽብሪ ካብ ስራሕ ተፋንዩ።
እቲ ብዛዕባ ኣርትዴኮ ኣስመራ ኣብ ደሙ ዝሰረጸ ሞያን ሓላፍነትን ግና ኣየቕሰኖን። ስለዝኾነ ድማ ጎኒ ጎኒ ሕክምናኡ ምስ ዝተፈላለያ ኤምባሲታት ኤርትራ ብምትሕግጋዝ ስእላዊ ኤግዚቪሽናት ኣብ ሓያሎ ሃገራት ብምክያድ ህንጻታት ኣርትዴኮ ኣስመራ ተፈላጥነትን ናይ ኣህጉራዊ ሚድያ ሸፈነን ንምርካብ ዝዓለመ ንጥፈታት ኣብ ምክያድ ተጸምደ።
ምስ ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ሌላና ኣብ ክፍሊ ኣከባቢ ሓላፊ እንከሎ ኣነ ድማ ኣዳላዊ መደብ ኣከባቢ ኣብ ድምጺ ሓፋሽ ኤርትራ ኣብ ዝነበርኩሉ 1997 እዩ ዝጅምር። ንህንጻታት ኣርትዴኮ ኣብ ምዕቃብን ኣብ ዩኔስኮ ኣብ ምምዝጋብን ከኣ ብሓባር ሰሪሕና።
“ቅርሲ ኤርትራ፡ ብጭልፋ“ እትብል ብዛዕባ ኣርትዴኮ ኣስመራን ኣድባራትን ጃምዓትን ካልእን እትገልጽ መጽሓፈይ‘ውን ንሱ ሓላፊ ኣብ ዝነበረሉ እዋን እየ ጽሒፈ ዘርጊሐያ። ስለዚ ኣብ ዝበዝሕ‘ቲ ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝዓመሞ ዓበይቲ ስራሓት ብኣካል ተዓዚበዮ እየ።

ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ብ18 ሓምለ 2026 ኣብ ቤቱ ኣመሪካ ብሰለስተ ደቁን ስድራቤቶምን - ሚካኤል፡ ማርታን ሞጎስን ከምኡ‘ውን ንእሽቶ ሓዉ ፕሮፌሰር ቀሺ እዝራን - ተኸቢቡ ብዘይ ስቅያት ኣብ መበል 92 ዓመት ዕድመኡ ዓሪፉ። ብ24 ሓምለ ድማ ኣብቲ ቦታ ሓመድ ኣዳም ለቢሱ።

ኣብ 92 ዓመትካ ምማት ንደቂ ሰብ ከም ዕድመ ምጽጋብ ክጥመት ይኽእል እዩ። ኢንጂነር ናይግዚ ቅድሚ ዓሚ ኣብ 2024 ዓ.ም ኣብ ሓደ ካብ ዝበረኹ እምባታት ኣፍሪቃ ዝኾነ እምባ ኬንያ ሓዂሩ ባንዴራ ኤርትራ ኣብ ዝባኑ ክተክል ብምብቃዑ ቁሩብ ዝቐልጠፎ ኮይኑ ዘይስምዓካ ኣይኮነን።
ብሰላም ይዕረፍ! መንግስተ ሰማይ የዋርስ!
See less