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Olaf Frederick Nelson

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Olaf Nelson (centre) in 1933
Nelson residence in Tuaefu, around 1936
The Clock Tower inApia,a gift from the Nelson Family.

Ta'isi Olaf Frederick Nelson(24 February 1883 – 28 February 1944) was aSamoanbusinessman and politician. He was one of the founding leaders of the anti-colonialMau movement.[1][2]

Biography

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Nelson was born on 24 February 1883 inSafuneon the island ofSavai'ito Swedish trader August Nelson and his Samoan wife, Sina Tugaga, whose family had links to the Sa Tupua, a prominent chiefly family.[3]His nameTa'isiis amataichief title from his mother's family from the Savai'i village of Asau. Nelson grew up in the family's home village of Faleolo until the age of eight, when he was sent to theMarist BrothersSchool inApia.He left the school at the age of thirteen and became an apprentice at the DH & PG firm.[4]He worked at DH & PH for four years, during which time he founded Samoa's first brass band.[4]

After leaving DH & PG, Nelson returned to Savai'i and took over his father's business,[4]which had started on 1895 under the name - Nelson and Robertson Limited.[5]He expanded his father's copra trading business throughout the islands, and by the time he was thirty-five, Nelson was one of the wealthiest members of the Apia community. He was influential in both the Samoan and European communities.

Under German rule, the colonial administrators treated Nelson as an equal, but afterNew Zealandseized control in 1914, Nelson was excluded and alienated by the new government. Despite beingelectedto theLegislative Councilin 1924, he could do little as he and the other elected members were constantly overruled by the more numerous government appointees. This treatment turned Nelson into one of the major forces in the Samoan independence movement, known as theMau.

In May 1927 Nelson founded a newspaper, theSamoa Guardian,to support its claims. In response to his growing public dissent, the New Zealand administration tried to brand Nelson as unscrupulous and a trouble maker.[6]The colonial administration's desperation to silence Nelson led them to exile him in January 1928, along with two other part-European members of the Mau.[7]During his five years of exile, Nelson took his protests as far as theLeague of Nationsin Geneva. He returned to Samoa in May 1933,[8]and continued his advocacy.[9]General Hart,the New Zealand administrator, demanded that Nelson be excluded from any meeting (fono) swith the leadership of the Mau.[10][11]The Mau insistence that Nelson should be one of its delegates. General Hart ordered police raids on the Mau’s headquarters at Vaimoso and Nelson’s residence at Tuaefu, which occurred on 15 November 1933.[12]Eight Samoan chiefs, leaders of the Mau, who were members of a conference of 100 assembled at Tuatuanu’u were arrested on charges of collecting monies for unlawful purposes and engaging in Mau activities.[13][14]A week later a further 7 chiefs were arrested at Savaii.[12]

Six months after his return to Samoa, Nelson was convicted of 3 charges of being connected to the Mau, for which he was sentenced to ten additional years in exile as well as eight months imprisonment in New Zealand.[15][16]His appeal to the Full Court of the New Zealand Supreme Court quashed the sentence of imprisonment but upheld the ten years of exile.[17]The Privy Council in London rejected his appeal.[18]However, his exile was cut short in 1936, afterLabourwon the New Zealand general election in 1935. He returned to Samoa on 22 July 1936,[19]and helped in the signing of the co-operation agreement between Samoan leaders and the New Zealand administration. He was subsequently elected to the Legislative Council in1938,[20]and re-elected in1941.

Nelson died in 1944,[21]and it was not until 1962 that his dream of Samoan independence was realised.

Legacy

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Ta'isi had six daughters. Viopapa Lucy, Irene Gustave Noue,Olive Nelson(Malienafau), Joyce Rosabel Piliopo, Sina Hope and Calmar Josephine Taufau,[22]and one son, Ta'isi who died as a result of the influenza epidemic in 1919 aged 4.[23]Malienafau was the first Pacific Island graduate of theUniversity of Auckland,graduating with a law degree in 1936.[24]

Ta'isi's daughter Noue went on to marryTupua Tamasese Mea'ole,who became Joint Head of State when Samoa attained Independence in 1962. They sired Olf "Efi" Nelson who went on to becomeTui Atua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Ta'isi Efi,the thirdPrime Minister of Samoaand from 2007 to 2017, theHead of State of Samoa.[25]His other grandsonMisa Telefoni Retzlaff(Hermann Theodor Retzlaff) was in parliament from 1988 to 2011, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa from 2001 to 2011.[26]Retzlaff's son isLemalu Herman Retzlaff(Taisi's great-grandson), who was appointed Attorney General of Samoa in 2016.[27]

Ta-isi's grand-daughter isDr Viopapa Annandale–Atherton.[23]In 1964, she was the first Samoan woman to graduate in medicine from the University of Otago and has committed her career to improving the health and welfare of women and children in the Pacific Islands.[28]

TheNelson Memorial Public Librarywas donated to the Samoan people by the Nelson Family in Ta'isi's memory.[29]

References

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  1. ^"O. F. Nelson of Samoa".IV(10) Pacific Islands Monthly.17 May 1934.Retrieved27 September2021.
  2. ^Pedersen, Susan(2015).The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire.Oxford University Press. pp. 169–192.doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570485.001.0001.ISBN978-0-19-957048-5.
  3. ^Deryck Scarr (1990).The History of the Pacific Islands–Kingdoms of the Reefs.Macmillan Publishers.p. 265.ISBN978-0-7329-0210-0.
  4. ^abc"Samoan Patriot".XIV(11) Pacific Islands Monthly.19 June 1944.Retrieved28 September2021.
  5. ^"Late – Fifty Years Old – Nelson & Robertson Ltd".XV(7) Pacific Islands Monthly.17 February 1945.Retrieved28 September2021.
  6. ^"Western Samoa – A Continuing Disappointment".II(10) Pacific Islands Monthly.19 May 1932.Retrieved26 September2021.
  7. ^"Pig-Headed New Zealand and Stubborn Samoa".III(3) Pacific Islands Monthly.19 October 1932.Retrieved26 September2021.
  8. ^"Exile Returns".III(11) Pacific Islands Monthly.24 June 1933.Retrieved26 September2021.
  9. ^"Is it Stalemate in Samoa?".IV(1) Pacific Islands Monthly.22 August 1933.Retrieved26 September2021.
  10. ^Correspondent (20 September 1933)."The Deadlock in Samoa".IV(2) Pacific Islands Monthly.Retrieved27 September2021.{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help)
  11. ^"Mau Defies General Hart - Stalemate Continues in Samoa".IV(3) Pacific Islands Monthly.24 September 1933.Retrieved27 September2021.
  12. ^ab"Stern Action by N.Z. Ends Samoan Deadlock".IV(5) Pacific Islands Monthly.21 December 1933.Retrieved27 September2021.
  13. ^"Police Act – Arrests and Raids in Western Samoa".IV(4) Pacific Islands Monthly.22 November 1933.Retrieved27 September2021.
  14. ^"Suppression of the Mau".IV(5) Pacific Islands Monthly.21 December 1933.Retrieved27 September2021.
  15. ^"Banished For Ten Years".IV(8) Pacific Islands Monthly.16 March 1934.Retrieved27 September2021.
  16. ^"O. F. Nelson to Appeal – His Treatment in N.Z. Arouses Protest".IV(9) Pacific Islands Monthly.29 April 1934.Retrieved27 September2021.
  17. ^"O. F. Nelson – Banishment Stands: Goal Sentence Quashed".IV(12) Pacific Islands Monthly.19 July 1934.Retrieved27 September2021.
  18. ^"Mr. O. F. Nelson's Exile From Samoa – English Privy Council Refuses Appeal".V(10) Pacific Islands Monthly.21 May 1935.Retrieved27 September2021.
  19. ^"Mr Nelson Returns to Samoa".VII(1) Pacific Islands Monthly.19 August 1936.Retrieved28 September2021.
  20. ^"O. F. Nelson Tops The Poll".IX(5) Pacific Islands Monthly.15 December 1938.Retrieved28 September2021.
  21. ^"Death of Mr. O. R. Nelson".XIV(8) Pacific Islands Monthly.20 March 1944.Retrieved28 September2021.
  22. ^"NELSON SISTERS:: MLC SCHOOL FAMILY TREE".MLC School.Retrieved27 March2024.
  23. ^abSee O'Brien, Tautai
  24. ^"125th Pacific Ball - The University of Auckland".alumni.auckland.ac.nz.Archived fromthe originalon 23 January 2019.Retrieved23 September2017.
  25. ^"Two men make history in Samoa (+photos)".New Zealand Herald. 20 June 2007.Retrieved27 March2024.
  26. ^"Misa becomes new Minister of Finance".Samoa Observer. 20 March 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 19 September 2020.
  27. ^"Samoa Attorney General Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff Resigns".Samoa Global News. 14 February 2020.Retrieved27 March2024.
  28. ^"A woman of the Pacific".otago.ac.nz.15 April 2020.Retrieved12 October2021.
  29. ^"History of Libraries in Samoa".Library Association of Samoa.Archived fromthe originalon 27 November 2013.Retrieved6 June2010.

Sources

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