Le Tagaloa Pita is a high chief matai and a former Member of Parliament of Samoa.[1] He is a matai from the village of Sili[2] on the island of Savai'i and has an honorary doctorate from Drew University in the United States.[1] During his political career, he was a member of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and a cabinet minister with the portfolios of economic affairs and post office.[3]
Prior to entering politics, Pita was acting principal of Alafua Agricultural Campus in Samoa, part of the University of the South Pacific. He was elected for a second term in parliament at the 1973 general election.[3] and retained his seat in the same electorate until the year 2000.
Family
editLe Tagaloa Pita's wife Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa is a distinguished professor, educator and author[4] in Samoa and who is also a former Member of Parliament in the country. Their children are high academic achievers. Their eldest son Mr. Semisi Aiono is a general surgeon who graduated from the University of Otago Medical School in New Zealand. Their daughter Leinani Aiono-Le Tagaloa is an assistant clinical professor in anesthesiology at the University of California, Davis, in the United States and another daughter Donna Aiono-Le Tagaloa-Ioane is a school principal in Samoa. In 2009, a third daughter Fanaafi Aiono-Le Tagaloa, also a published author, became the first Samoan-born person to gain a PhD in law from Otago university.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c "PhD a 'fantastic' achievement". Otago Daily Times (NZ). 16 December 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- ^ "Samoan village chief and former MP says hydro plant jeopardizes organic farms". Radio New Zealand International. 17 April 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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.
Further reading
editPita Le Tagaloa. Ofa Se Faalepo po o se Faalani. Pacific Printers Co Ltd, Apia, 1991.
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