Pouvanaa a Oopa

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Pouvanaa a Oopa
French National Assembly
for French Polynesia
In office
4 August 1949 – 12 February 1960
Preceded byGeorges Ahnne
Succeeded byMarcel Oopa
Personal details
Born10 May 1895[1]
Maeva, Huahine, French Polynesia
Died10 January 1977[1]
Papeete[1]
Political partyDemocratic Rally of the Tahitian People
Pupu Here Aia

Pouvana'a a O'opa (May 10, 1895 – January 10, 1977) was a Tahitian politician and advocate for French Polynesian independence. He is viewed as the metua (father) of French Polynesia's independence movement.

Pouvanaa served as a Deputy in the

National Assembly of France from 1949 — 1958, when he was convicted on charges of arson and sentenced to eight years imprisonment and 15 years exile in France. After being pardoned in 1968, he served as a Senator from 1971 until his death in 1977. His conviction was quashed in 2018 after new evidence showed that French police had fabricated evidence or extracted it by threats of violence, and that the Governor had reported Pouvanaa's arrest before the fires had even been set.[2]

Biography

Early life

Pouvanaa a Oopa was born in 1895 in Maeva, on the island of Huahine.[3] His mother was of Polynesian descent while his father was a Danish sailor.[4]

He was a veteran of

carpenter.[5]

Politics

During World War II, Pouvanaa criticized people who profited financially from the war, and was exiled to a reef islet in his native Huahine in 1942.[3] Following the end of the war and the liberation of France, Pouvanaa continued to criticize French colonial rule in the islands. In 1947 he was prosecuted for "challenging government authority", but acquitted.[3] In October 1947 he founded a political party, the Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People (RDPT),[5] which advocated Tahitian nationalism and an end to French colonial rule.

Pouvanaa was first elected as a

French Chamber of Deputies.[3] He was further re-elected to the French National Assembly in 1951[7] and 1956.[8]

He became the leader of the local government administration of the islands in 1958.

businesspeople.[5] A strike by business leaders, and a riot in Papeete, in which the French Polynesian Assembly was pelted with stones, led to the law being repealed.[10]

Pouvanaa was a strong advocate of in favor of independence for French Polynesia during the

French territory. However, some local commentators believe 'no' would have won if they had been able to campaign freely.[12]

Arrest and exile in France

In 1958 Pouvanaa was charged with

French President Charles de Gaulle pardoned Pouvanaa in 1968 and he returned to French Polynesia in 1969.[11]

Later life

The Pouvanaa a Oopa Monument

Pouvanaa campaigned for and was elected to the

French Senate, representing French Polynesia, in 1971.[11] He continued to hold this office until his death in 1977.[3]

Pouvanaa died on January 10, 1977, in Tahiti.[3]

Legacy

In 1982, the Pouvanaa a Oopa Monument was erected in Papeete in front of the Assembly of French Polynesia.[15] The memorial in memory of Pouvanaa became a rallying point for Tahitian during the French nuclear tests of 1995. Nearly one third of the Tahitian adult population gathered at Pouvanaa's memorial in July 1995 to protest against French nuclear detonations in the Tuamotu Archipelago.[16] A street in Papeete, Avenue Pouvanaa A Oopa, is also named in his honor.[17]

Pouvanaa's family requested a new trial in 1988, though their request was denied by the French Justice Department in Paris.[13]

In July 2009, the

French government for a new trial for Pouvanaa a Oopa.[13] The call was repeated in 2013.[18] In 2018 his conviction was quashed by the Court of Revision after new evidence showed that French police had fabricated evidence or extracted it by threats of violence, and that the Governor had reported Pouvanaa's arrest before the fires had even been set.[2][19]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pouvanaa a Oopa.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Tetuaapua, Pouvanaa Oopa". Assemblée nationale 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b "French court quashes conviction of Tahitian separatist leader". RNZ. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "TAHITI LOSES TWO OF ITS MOST COLOURFUL VETERANS". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 48, no. 3. 1 March 1977. p. 68-69 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ISBN 9781859840047
    .
  5. ^
    Time Magazine. 1958-10-27. Archived from the original
    on January 31, 2011. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
  6. ^ "NOTES FROM FRENCH OCEANIA". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XX, no. 7. February 1950. p. 98. Retrieved 19 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Pouvanaa a Oopa Reelected in Fr. Oceania". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXII, no. 4. 1 November 1951. p. 15 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Fr. Oceania Re-Elects Pouvanaa a Oopa". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXVI, no. 7. 1 February 1956. p. 157 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "LEFTIST PARTY TAKES OVER IN FRENCH POLYNESIA". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXVIII, no. 9. 1 April 1958. p. 21 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "WORK CEASES IN PAPEETE Tahiti Assembly Stoned: New Tax Hurriedly Repealed". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXVIII, no. 10. 1 May 1958. p. 14 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ a b c "SENATOR POUVANAA!". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 42, no. 10. 1 October 1971. p. 25 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ a b c d "Pouvanaa and 22 Others Arrested". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXIX, no. 4. 1 November 1958. p. 19-20 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ a b c "Call to rehabilitate French Polynesia's Pouvanaa a Oopa". Radio New Zealand. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  14. ^ a b "News From French Polynesia New Deal For The Isolated Marquesas". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXXIII, no. 3. 1 November 1962. p. 139 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Pouvanaa: A monumental blunder?". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 53, no. 7. 1 July 1982. p. 25-27 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ISBN 1-56691-412-4
    .
  17. ^ "TEMARU PUSHES PAPEETE STREET NAME CHANGES". Pacific Islands Report. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Call to review 1959 conviction of Tahiti's Pouvanaa". RNZ. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  19. ^ "L'ancien député polynésien Pouvana'a a Oopa innocenté soixante ans après" (in French). Le Monde. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
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