Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole
Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole was a Western Samoan paramount chief and politician. He was the Tupua Tamasese titleholder from 1929, and the O le Ao o le Malo of Western Samoa from its independence in 1962, until his death the following year. As head of state, he served jointly with Malietoa Tanumafili II.
Early and personal life
He was born in Vaimoso in 1905, one of three sons of the paramount chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi I. He was educated at the Marist school in Apia. In 1929, he was installed as Tupua Tamasese when his elder brother and Mau leader, Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III was assassinated by colonial police during a Mau parade in Apia.Career
He married Noue in 1934, a daughter of Olaf Frederick Nelson. They had two daughters and two sons. In 1936, he was appointed to the Legislative Council, and in 1938 he was appointed as one of the fautua. In the same year he became president of the Mau. As a fautua, he continued to serve in the Legislative Council and its successor, the Legislative Assembly until 1957. He was a member of the Council of State and the Executive Council until 1959.Away from politics, Tamasese was involved in business, serving as chair of the board of the Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation, a director of the Bank of Western Samoa and a member of the Copra Board. In 1953, he attended the coronation of Elizabeth II in London and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. In the 1957 New Year Honours he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
In preparations for independence, Tamasese chaired the constitutional conventions of 1954 and 1960. When Western Samoa attained independence in 1962, the new constitution made Tupua Tamasese and Malietoa Tanumafili II joint heads of state for a life tenure.