Global InformationAiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa information
Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa | |
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| Born | 25 June 1932 |
| Died | 14 August 2014 (aged 82) |
| Academic background | |
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| Thesis | Bilingualism and its Socio-Economic and Philosophical Implications in a Society Forced to be Bilingual. |
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Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa OM (25 June 1932 – 14 August 2014) was a chief (matai), scholar, historian and professor of Samoa.[1] An authority on Samoan culture and language, she was one of the most educated female matai in the country with a PhD in educational philosophy and applied linguistics from the University of London.[2]
She was instrumental in formulating and implementing bi-cultural and bi-lingual education in Samoa, in particular, during her tenure as Director of Education for the government as the country moved from colonial rule to political independence in the early 1960s. She held other senior positions in education in Samoa, including Professor of Samoan Studies at the National University of Samoa and principal of Samoa Teachers' College.
Her distinguished career included politics and she was a former Member of Parliament in Samoa, having first entered parliament at the 1985 general election under the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP).[3] In 1997, she founded the Indigenous University of Samoa (Le Iunivesite o le Amosa o Savavau).[4] The university curriculum is taught in the Samoan language with qualifications in Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees.
She published extensively about Samoan history, land rights, fa'amatai chiefly governance and fa'a Samoa socio-political issues, as well as the role of women and children in the Pacific Islands.[5] Her scholarly work and publications have been widely read and cited.
- ^ Lawson, Stephanie (1996). Tradition versus democracy in the South Pacific: Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa. Cambridge University Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-521-49638-4.
- ^ "PhD a 'fantastic' achievement". Otago Daily Times (NZ). 16 December 2009. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- ^ So'o, Asofou (2008). Democracy and custom in Sāmoa: an uneasy alliance. University of the South Pacific. p. 107. ISBN 978-982-02-0390-7. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ^ "The Samoan Identity – O Le Tagata ma lona Faasinomaga" (PDF). University of Otago, NZ. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
- ^ Lamont Lindstrom, Geoffrey Miles White (1997). Chiefs today: traditional Pacific leadership and the postcolonial state. Stanford University Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-8047-2851-5.