Henok Melkamzer Yihun was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and spent most of his early childhood in the Gojjam zone of the Amhara region of Ethiopia. He learned Telsem primarily from his grandfather. Henok has studied Telsem since his childhood as his family bloodline holds the secrets and wisdom of Ethiopian Telsem. Henok is currently a world-renowned expert on Ethiopian Telsem paintings and is not only respected in his home country of Ethiopia as such but also globally.