The Institute was founded in January 1963 as a department of the Haile Selassie I University, for research in all fields relating to Ethiopia. It is at present organised in three main sections, the Amharic collection, the library, and the museum. The Amharic collection, a unique assortment of books, pamphlets, and periodicals published in this language, is under the charge of Mr Stephen Wright, a life-long specialist in Ethiopian affairs. Mr. S. Chojnacki is responsible for the Institute's valuable library of books on Ethiopia, and for an ethnological and a small but growing historical museum.