Erich Bernhard Theodor Schultz-Ewerth (8 March 1870 – 25 June 1935) was a German jurist, ethnologist and colonial administrator, who served as the last governor of

German Samoa German Samoa officially Malo Kaisalika / Kingdom of Samoa (; Samoan: ''Malo Kaisalika'') was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the Independent State ...

Life and work

Erich Schultz-Ewerth entered the judicial service of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

in 1892 and passed the major state examination in 1897. After joining the Colonial Department of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

in 1898, he traveled to

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

at the end of the year, where he served as a district judge. In 1899 he had to travel back to Germany due to illness. After a brief return to the judiciary, he was transferred at his own request back to the Colonial Department on 22 December 1899, and was appointed as a district judge to

in 1901, and eventually appointed the Imperial Chief Judge in 1910. He received the title of ''

Geheimrat was the title of the highest advising officials at the imperial, royal, or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic reigns in Ge ...

'' in 1911. He became the acting Governor of German Samoa on 19 December 1911, succeeding

Wilhelm Solf Wilhelm Heinrich Solf (5 October 1862 – 6 February 1936) was a German scholar, diplomat, jurist and statesman. Early life Solf was born into a wealthy and liberal family in Berlin. He attended secondary schools in Anklam, western Pomerania, a ...

, the first Governor of the colony. He was appointed as Solf's permanent successor on 19 June 1912, and continued to hold the position of Imperial Chief Judge as well. During the German interracial marriage debate (1912), he issued a controversial ban on

interracial marriage Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different "Race (classification of human beings), races" or Ethnic group#Ethnicity and race, racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United Sta ...

s. In 1914, after the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

occupation of German Samoa The Occupation of Samoa was the takeover – and subsequent administration – of the Pacific colony of German Samoa by New Zealand during World War I. It started in late August 1914 with landings by the Samoa Expeditionary Force from New Zeal ...

by the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

troops, he was taken prisoner of war and held in captivity until 1919. For a short time after the war he defended Germans before foreign courts. He then worked as an author of books on colonial issues. In his ''Memories of Samoa'', he described the economic and political importance of Samoa, colonization, the South Seas as a colonial area, as well as superstition, polygamy, cannibalism and funeral ceremonies. During his studies in 1888 he became a member of the ''

Burschenschaft A Burschenschaft (; sometimes abbreviated in the German ''Burschenschaft'' jargon; plural: ) is one of the traditional (student associations) of Germany, Austria, and Chile (the latter due to German cultural influence). Burschenschaften were fo ...

Thuringia Charlottenburg / Berlin'', which still exists today under the name ''Vereinigte Berliner Burschenschaft Thuringia''.

Marriage and family

Schultz-Ewerth was married to the writer Charlott Schultz-Ewerth (pseudonym Christa Maria Parcham) (born on 11 June 1898). The marriage ended in divorce.''Kürschners deutscher Literatur-Kalender. '', 1937, p. 50. Her works include ''The New Church Book. A book by Mut and German Art'', Kribe-Verlag, Berlin 1929, ''Allerleirauh'', ''Bioletta'' and ''A Girl Experiences the Revolution''. His son was the singer and actor Mario Tuala (1924–1961).

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz-Ewerth, Erich 1870 births 1935 deaths German jurists German ethnologists Multiracial affairs White supremacists People of former German colonies German people in German East Africa German people in German Samoa German prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by New Zealand