Born Gebre Masqal in the region of Merhabete, Heruy received his initial education in the traditional manner at local churches until his father died when he was 13. He found a living working as deacon to a big landlord in return for food and clothing until he achieved an appointment as clerk to "Dejazmach" Bashah Abboye, the governor of Selale. Continuing in other clerical positions, he eventually came to the notice of the priests of Saint Raguel on Mount Entoto, who rekindled his desire for learning. He joined the school attached to that church, where he was taught by the Ethiopian Orthodox priest "Mamher" Walda Giyorgis. According to Bahru Zewde, it was Walda Giyorgis who gave him his name "Heruy" (Amharic "precious"). Not satisfied with a traditional education, Heruy cast his eyes further afield and learned English at the Swedish mission school in Addis Ababa then picked up some French working with a French veterinary team. Regent "Ras" Tefari (later Emperor Haile Selassie) appointed Heruy in 1916 to serve as administrator of Addis Ababa. He was a member of Ethiopia's first delegation to the League of Nations (7 August 1922) and part of the retinue that accompanied the Regent on his tour of Europe in 1924. By the early 1930s, he was promoted to Foreign Minister, and held that office at the beginning of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.