Hai·le Se·las·sie I 
(hī′lē sə-lăsē, -läsē) Title of Ras Tafari Makonnen. 1892-1975.
(hī′lē sə-lăsē, -läsē) Title of Ras Tafari Makonnen. 1892-1975. Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-1974). After the Italian invasion of his country (1936), he fled to England, returned to Ethiopia with Allied troops (1941), and held the throne until deposed in a military coup (1974). He is regarded as a divine figure by the Rastafarians.