Kassa Haile Darge

Kassa Hailu
GCVO GBE
Born(1881-07-08)8 July 1881
Selale, Shewa, Ethiopian Empire
Died16 November 1956(1956-11-16) (aged 75)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Empire
SpouseTsige Mariam Beshah
IssueAberra Kassa
Asfawossen Kassa
Wondosson Kassa
Asrate Kassa
Bizunesh Kassa
Manayalush Kassa
Tessemia Kassa
MotherPrincess Tisseme of Selale

Ras Kassa Hailu (Amharic: ካሣ ኀይሉ ዳርጌ; 7 August 1881 16 November 1956) was a Shewan Amhara nobleman, the son of Dejazmach Haile Wolde Kiros of Lasta, the ruling heir of Lasta's throne and younger brother of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis II, and Tisseme Darge, the daughter of Ras Darge Sahle Selassie, brother of Menelik II's father.

John Spencer, who advised Ras Kassa during the writing of the 1955 Constitution of Ethiopia, described him as "surely the most conservative of all the rases in constant attendance at the court." Spencer continued his description of the aristocrat by noting that he rarely saw the Ras "in other than Ethiopian national dress. Large, bearded and silent, this imposing dignitary wore a black cloak with gold clasps worked into the form of lion heads. In working sessions, he used to take out with considerable pride a pair of folding half-lens spectacles with gold frames and bows."