Malietoa Moli
Malietoa Mōli | |
---|---|
Savai’i, Samoa | |
Died | 1860 Samoa |
Spouse | Fa’alaitaua Fuatino Su’apa’ia |
Father | Malietoa Vai’inupo Tavita |
Mother | Aunofo Siuli Atuilagi |
Malietoa Mōli [Semoanaifea] (“Lamp Oil” or “Illumination”) was a Samoan king who died in 1860.
Titular succession
Some speculate that both Mōlī and
Tenure as Malietoa
Mōlī’s short term as titleholder “was notable for his humiliation by foreign consuls”[4] and Robert Louis Stevenson recounts several examples of the dishonor and embarrassment suffered at the hands of western politicians. He was “seized on several occasions by captains of warships of various nations as a hostage to secure the capture of Samoans who had offended European settlers”.[5] The most famous of these incidents involved a highborn man from Sāgone, Savai‘i who in 1856 had murdered a European named William Fox in Sāla‘ilua, Savai‘i. Samoan justice was served when Sāla’ilua reciprocally took the life of a Sāgone noble, but “this was no settlement in European eyes” and a British gunship pummeled the Sāgone coast with cannon fire. Mōlī was later punished with fines and “forced to assent to the execution” of the perpetrator.[4] The judicial settlement of this incident took place in November 1858[6] while Taimalelagi lay dying and the bulk of administrative duties were already vested in Mōlī.
Death and titular transfer
When Mōlī’s own passing became inevitable, two contenders emerged as legitimate heirs to the Malietoa title, Mōlī’s younger brother
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-8248-1634-6.
- ^ Te'o Tuvale. An Account of Samoan History up to 1918. p. 14. Retrieved 4 June 2022 – via NZETC.
- .
- ^ a b Meleiseā, Malama (1987). The Making of Modern Samoa: Traditional Authority and Colonial Administration in the History of Western Samoa. Suva: University of the South Pacific. p. 32.
- ^ Meleiseā, Malama (1987). Lagaga: A Short History of Western Samoa. Suva: University of the South Pacific. p. 76.
- ^ Morrell, W P (1960). Britain in the Pacific Islands. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 211.