Final answer:
Emperor Menelik II led the successful Ethiopian resistance against Italy, culminating in their victory at the Battle of Adwa in 1896.
Step-by-step explanation:
The individual who led the successful resistance movement against Italy in Ethiopia was Emperor Menelik II. In the early 1890s, as Italy sought to expand its territory into Ethiopia, open war culminated in the seminal Battle of Adwa in 1896.
During this battle, Emperor Menelik II's well-equipped and well-trained forces decisively defeated the Italian army. This victory forced Italy to recognize Ethiopia's independence, marking a unique case where a non-European power successfully repulsed European colonizers during that era. Ethiopia's status as an independent nation was challenged again in the mid-1930s under Italian dictator Mussolini, but the earlier triumph at Adwa remained a significant historical event.