A Son Thanks to Naete

In spite of having a reputed 18 children, our Abojevi Zahwenu/Robert Antoine prayed to the diety, Naeta, for a son. It’s reported that his wife became pregnant and gave birth to a son they called Henry. His African name was Dewendo and he was born in 1878. We do have to thank Naeta for Henry because he was the family member who provided researchers and scholars with the vast majority of information we are finally discovering today.

Another Interpretation of Abojevi Zahwenu’s name

Thanks to Tasha’s research, here’s another interpretation of Abojevi Zahwenu’s name. It should be AGBODJEVI ZANWXENOU and is a greeting typical of an ethnic group called Pedah or Wxédah. The whole praise is "Dèdon Agbodjèvi Zanwxènou" and it was an expression of respect and honour. DEDON AGBODJEVI means the one who has the power of saying prayers (in other words priest or priestess) to the deity Agbo.  ZANXWENOU means a person from Zanwhe, a small village in Ouidah. We can translate the phrase as “the priest of the deity AGBO from Zanwhe” adding support to the theory that our ancestor was from the ‘priestly’ class.