Describe the characteristics of the Zerai Derres rebellion in this artwork's History.
On 15 June 1938, the young Eritrean Zerai Deres made a protest against the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in front of the monument. Brandishing a scimitar, he wounded several onlookers and was shot by soldiers. He was arrested by the fascist militia and imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital (however, contemporary Italian historians doubt the claim that he was mentally unstable) in Sicily, where he died in 1945. For this gesture Zerai Deres is considered a national hero both in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Italian occupation of Ethiopia Zerai Deres psychiatric hospital Ethiopia scimitar