Malama Meleisea is a Samoan historian and the author of several historical books on Samoa. He holds the Samoan title Leasiolagi.
Meleisea is from Poutasi in Falealili. [1] He worked as a teacher before studying at the University of Papua New Guinea and Australian National University. [1] He holds a Phd in History and Politics from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. [2] In 1978 he became a lecturer at the University of the South Pacific. [1] He was the founding director of Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at Canterbury University and director at Centre for Pacific Studies at Auckland University, New Zealand.
In 2007 he was appointed UNESCO director in Bangladesh. [3] Between 2011 and 2012 he served as a judge on the Land and Titles Court of Samoa. [4] In 2016 he was appointed as one of the commissioners for a commission of inquiry into domestic violence in Samoa. [5]
Meleisea is currently Director of Samoan Studies at the National University of Samoa, [2]
The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the governments of 12 Pacific island countries: the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
ʻEnele Maʻafuʻotuʻitonga, commonly known as Maʻafu, was a Pacific islander who held important titles in two countries in the Pacific. He was a traditional Tongan Prince and a Fijian chief nominated and installed by the Tovata chiefs of Lakeba and Vanua Balavu as 'Tui Lau' in 1869. This title was ratified by a wider council of Fijian chiefs and subsequently formalised under British colonial administration. In 1847, Maʻafu went to Fiji in an expedition to Vanua Balavu to investigate the killing of a preacher.
Le Mamea Matatumua Ata was one of the framers of the Constitution of Samoa. He held senior positions under the German colonial government of Samoa, New Zealand Trusteeship of Samoa and in the Independent State of Samoa.
The prime minister of the Independent State of Samoa is the head of government of Samoa. The prime minister is a member of the Legislative Assembly, and is appointed by the O le Ao o le Malo for a five-year term. Since independence in 1962, a total of seven individuals have served as prime minister. The incumbent was disputed due to the 2021 constitutional crisis, when Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi refused to accept the results of the 2021 general election. On 23 July 2021, the Samoan Court of Appeal ruled that the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party had been in government since 24 May. Tuila'epa then conceded defeat, resulting in FAST party leader Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa becoming prime minister.
Matautu is the name of different villages in Samoa. Places named Matautu are found on the two largest islands, Upolu and Savaiʻi.
The National University of Samoa is the only national university in Samoa. Established in 1984 by an act of parliament, it is coeducational and provides certificate, diploma, and undergraduate degree programs, as well as technical and vocational training. About 2,000 students were enrolled in 2010 with an estimated 300 staff. It offers a wide range of programmes including Arts, Business and Entrepreneurship, Education, Science, Nursing, Engineering and Maritime Training. The Centre for Samoan Studies, established in the university for the teaching of the Samoan language and culture, offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as the world's first degree in Master of Samoan Studies.
Malietoa Mōli [Semoanaifea] was a Samoan king who died in 1860.
Fagamalo is a village situated on the central north coast of Savai'i in Samoa. It is a sub-village or pito nu'u of the larger traditional village enclave of Matautu in the political district of Gaga'emauga. The population of the village is 383.
Poutasi is a village on the south east coast of Upolu island in Samoa. The population is 395. The village is part of Falealili Electoral Constituency in the larger political district of Atua. Poutasi was extensively damaged by the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami.
Tui Fiti or Tuifiti is the name of a figure referred to in different legends in Samoan mythology and in other parts of Polynesia. In other stories, "Tui Fiti" means "high chief of Fiti."
The Pacific Theological College (PTC) is an ecumenical theological college located in Suva, Fiji. Established in 1965, it opened for training in 1966 and was originally designed as the only regional institution to offer degree-level education in theology, available primarily to students from Pacific Island churches. Many of the church leaders of the Pacific Islands have been educated at PTC since.
Tui Manu'a Matelita, born Margaret Young, and also known as Makelita, Matelika or Lika was the Tui Manu'a from 1891 to 1895. She ruled over Manu'a, a group of islands in the eastern part of the Samoan Islands. During her tenure, she served largely a ceremonial role at her residence on Ta'ū where she received British writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Matelita never married because she would not marry any of the eligible native chieftains and no other men were regarded as having the proper rank to marry her. She died of illness in 1895 although later reports claimed she died by a more violent means. She was buried in the Tui Manu'a Graves Monument.
The Chief Justice of Samoa is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Samoa. The qualifications and powers of the office are governed by Part VI of the Constitution of Samoa and the Judicature Ordinance 1961. The position is currently held by Satiu Simativa Perese.
Taliutafa Christopher Leiesilika Young, also known as Christopher Taliutafa Young, Chris Young or Kilisi Young was the last claimant to the traditional title Tui Manu'a of Manu'a, a group of islands in the eastern part of the Samoan Islands. He was deposed from this title and exiled by American Governor Edward Stanley Kellogg because the idea of monarchy was incompatible with the Constitution of the United States.
Erich Bernhard Theodor Schultz-Ewerth was a German jurist, ethnologist and colonial administrator, who served as the last governor of German Samoa.
Tuatagaloa Tofa Siaosi was a Western Samoan politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1967 until 1973 and was Minister of Finance between 1970 and 1973.
Toluono Lama was a Western Samoan politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1976.
Capital punishment is not a legal penalty in Samoa. The death penalty was used in the colonial era, but the practice had ceased by the time of independence in 1962, with death sentences being commuted to life imprisonment, and it was formally abolished in 2004. The last execution was carried out in 1952.
Leota Namulauulu Lalomanu Kosi Latu is a Samoan lawyer and diplomat who served as Director-General of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme from 2016 to 2022. He is the brother of rugby player and lawyer George Latu.
The Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies (MBC) is a research centre on Pacific Studies within the University of Canterbury. It was founded in 1988 from a bequest of Professor John Macmillan Brown.