Seyoum Mesfin Gebredingel (born January 25, 1949) is an Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

n politician and diplomat. He was Ethiopia's Foreign Minister

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ethiopia)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Ethiopian government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Ethiopia....

 from 1991 until September 2010 and has subsequently served as Ethiopia's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

.

Born in Tigray Province

Tigray Province

Tigray was a province of Ethiopia. The Tigray Region superseded the province with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995. The province of Tigre merged with its neighboring provinces, including Semien, Tembien, Agame and the prominent Enderta province and towards the end of 19th century it...

, Seyoum was trained in science and academic background, gained first at Bahar Dar Polytechnic Institute and later at Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa University is a university in Ethiopia. It was originally named "University College of Addis Ababa" at its founding, then renamed for the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I in 1962, receiving its current name in 1975.Although the university has six of its seven campuses within...

. According to Aregawi Berhe, he was one of seven students who met on 14 September 1974 at an inconspicuous cafe in the Piazza

Piazza

A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...

 district to create the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front.

Seyoum was the Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs for nearly 20 years, from 1991 until he was replaced after the 2010 parliamentary election

Ethiopian general election, 2010

A parliamentary election was held in Ethiopia on May 23, 2010.The National Election Board of Ethiopia reported that a total of 29,170,867 people were registered to vote in this election...

. He is also an executive member of the Central Committee of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front

The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front is the ruling political coalition in Ethiopia. It is an alliance of four other groups: the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization , the Amhara National Democratic Movement , the South Ethiopian Peoples' Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's...

 (EPRDF). He is also a member of the House of Peoples' Representatives, representing Adigrat

Adigrat

Adigrat is a city in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Misraqawi Zone at longitude and latitude with an elevation of 2457 meters above sea level, below a high ridge to the west, Adigrat is the last important Ethiopian city south of the border with Eritrea, and is considered to be a...

.

After leaving the government in 2010, Seyoum was appointed as Ambassador to China.

He was also Chief Executive Officer of the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray from 2000 until early 2009.