dinaw mengestu was born in addis ababa, ethiopia. in 1978, during a period of political repression that became known as the red terror, his father, who was an executive with ethiopian airlines, applied for political asylum while on a business trip in italy; mengestu's mother was pregnant with him at the time. two years later, when mengestu was a toddler, he, his mother and his sister were reunited with his father in the united states. the family settled in peoria, illinois, where mengestu's father at first worked as a factory laborer, before rising to a management position. later the family moved to the chicago area, where mengestu graduated from fenwick high school in oak park, illinois.