Background of Black Ethiopian

[Andrey_BY]

Carolyn,
the wrong word for me here is "occupation", of course.

Vietnam were and Afganistan and Irak are occupated indeed. Serbia (in its Kosovo region) are still occupated by NATO forces (there is an Army base there). But that was military consultation in Ethiopia or Angola for Soviets as well as for American military specialists almost all around the world...

OK, outside political issues that is the same old question about Crimea (now Ukraine, former Russian area for ages) as an area of origin of many black tomato varieties... Still can't believe in that, because there is no such info circulated inside former Soviet Union countries (CIS now)...

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

Carolyn,
the wrong word for me here is "occupation", of course.

Vietnam were and Afganistan and Irak are occupated indeed. Serbia (in its Kosovo region) are still occupated by NATO forces (there is an Army base there). But that was military consultation in Ethiopia or Angola for Soviets as well as for American military specialists almost all around the world...

OK, outside political issues that is the same old question about Crimea (now Ukraine, former Russian area for ages) as an area of origin of many black tomato varieties... Still can't believe in that, because there is no such info circulated inside former Soviet Union countries (CIS now)...

Andrey, I apologize if again I've used what to you is a wrong word.

All I know is that whatever the interaction was with the Soviets as consultants, the word you used, it led to many Ethiopians leaving their country and seeking asylum elsewhere, and that included Tadesse, his Uncle and two sisters who were given asylum in the US.His parents and some other relatives remained in Addas Abbaba.

As for the true origin of Black Ethiopian all I know is that it was listed in the SSE Yearbook as coming from the Ukraine by the person who first listed it. Why it was named with the word Ethiopian in the variety name can have several interpretations and I've given one interpretation, not unique to me, that has been given.

[Andrey_BY]

Carolyn,
many people (especially from poor countries) want to live (to have asylum) in USA They will tell you they were fighters for freedom or were under occupation on their own country, but that's not true in most of cases. They just want to live in a country with the better (or even best) life conditions...
Soviet Union spent so many billions of USD as a friendship help to many African countries (Ethiopea as well), built many roads, hydro- and electric stations and other important things. So there was nothing that could force these people leave their country because of Soviets actually...

[Tania]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

Carolyn,
...that is the same old question about Crimea (now Ukraine, former Russian area for ages) as an area of origin of many black tomato varieties... Still can't believe in that, because there is no such info circulated inside former Soviet Union countries (CIS now)...

Andrey,

The life in the former USSR tought me that if there is no information available or circulated in the country it does NOT mean that the thing never existed - I am sure you know what I am talking about .

Re so called 'Ethiopian' black varieties originated in Ukraine - my other speculation is that these could indeed be some black tomatoes originated in Russia, and called 'Efiop', or 'Ethiopian' by people who associated black color with the skin color of etihopian people. Similar story may apply to the well known Paul Robeson tomato... or 'Negritenok' tomato.
What do you think?

[carolyn137]

Re so called 'Ethiopian' black varieties originated in Ukraine - my other speculation is that these could indeed be some black tomatoes originated in Russia, and called 'Efiop', or 'Ethiopian' by people who associated black color with the skin color of etihopian people. Similar story may apply to the well known Paul Robeson tomato... or 'Negritenok' tomato.
What do you think?

Tania, the idea that it was named Ethiopian b/c the majority of the people there are black has been raised and discussed before. But why Ethiopia when the peoples of many other countries are also dark skinned?

And while I've got both you and Andrey here I wanted to share with you that I've been reading thru my Yearbook and have finished the orange/yellow and pink/purple sections so far and what amuses me a bit is that you and Andrey are at the top of all varieties you listed b'c BC ( British Columbia) and BELR ( Belarus) are usually first, and when you two list the same variety you often spell that variety differently.

Not a huge change but yet differently.

Two observations so far, and I'll probably post this in the SSE thread anyway, but first, the errors I saw are getting more and more numerous, no, I'm not necessarily talking about the listings of either of you, and second, so many histories are being lost.

For many varieties you'll see NY MA C, for instance, but there are many more where the original histories I posted when I was listing those varieties has totally disappeared.

A few of the SSE members, such as Bill Minkey, try to keep the histories going, but many don't, and I feel badly when I read thru and see that many that I introduced, which is several hundreds of new ones, the histories are gone.

[Tania]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Two observations so far, and I'll probably post this in the SSE thread anyway, but first, the errors I saw are getting more and more numerous, no, I'm not necessarily talking about the listings of either of you, and second, so many histories are being lost.

For many varieties you'll see NY MA C, for instance, but there are many more where the original histories I posted when I was listing those varieties has totally disappeared.

A few of the SSE members, such as Bill Minkey, try to keep the histories going, but many don't, and I feel badly when I read thru and see that many that I introduced, which is several hundreds of new ones, the histories are gone.

Carolyn,

I would like to collect all the histories for all the varieties that you have introduced from you and post them at the TOMATObase. This way the true histories will not be lost. I will PM you my idea how we can go about it, if you agree to help.