Start on 39:20 and watch to the end of the interview at 41:07. Tekle Hawariat tells the story how he met his future adopted father, Colonel Molchanov who then immediately gave him into his mother’s care, then about his schooling.
He says he is an Abyssinian with a Russian soul.
For more information click on the link to the article:
excerpt:
…There were five Ethiopian boys who were sent to Russia. While Tekle describes the meeting with his soon-to-be adoptive father as a meeting of chance, it is difficult to believe that this was nothing more than a planned enocounter which was linked to Molchanov’s activities in Abyssinia and his connection to Col. Leontiev. Young Tekle, as a twelve year old boy wrote that he was present at the Battle of Adwa which was concluded on March 1, 1896 and where the Ethiopian forces supported by Russian weapons and military advisors were victorious over the Italians. So Tekle met Molchanov in St. Petersburg in late 1896 or early 1897. The documentarym Burnt by the Son prefaces the interview with Tekle by stating that he arrived in 1896, a date that would have been confirmed by Tekle himself. He traveled with a delegation of the Russian Red Cross under Col. Leontiev’s (Count Abai as of 1897) protection. This detail is further reinforced by the fact that in official correspondences with the Russian military Academy administrators, Tekle is referred to by Molchanov as the son of Abai, a reference most likely to Nikolai Leontiev’s recently created Ethiopian title of Count Abai. The journey to Russia, whatever the circumstances must have been a terryfying moment for young Tekle but after all, he was chosen for a special path in life.
http://doc-filmik.info/news/