Gebre Egziabher was born in Adwa, Tigray on February 19, 1940. He is the brother of renowned writer Sebhat Gebre-Egziabher. He attended Negeste Saba (Queen of Sheba) Elementary School in Adwa from October 1951 to June 1955. Gebre Egziabher was accepted to General Wingate Secondary School in Addis Ababa and studied there from September 1955 to July 1959. He was then accepted to Addis Ababa (then Haile Selassie I) University, Addis Ababa where he studied from September 1959 to July 1963 and won the Chancellor's Gold Medal for best graduate in the Faculty of Science. He studied at the School of Plant Biology, University of North Wales from October 1966–Nov. 1969 and was awarded a PhD under Prof. P. Greig Smith. Ph.D.