Fonoti Matautia Ioane (John) Brown (17 February 1901 – 9 October 1974) was a Western Samoan chief, businessman and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly in two spells between 1948 and 1957, and held the portfolios of Agriculture and Health.

Biography

Born in 1901, Ioane was educated at the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

school between 1908 and 1913. He worked as a salesman for

Burns Philp Burns Philp (properly Burns, Philp & Co, Limited) was a major Australian shipping line and merchant that operated in the South Pacific. In later years the company was a major player in the food manufacturing business. Since its Delisting (stoc ...

and Westbrook before setting up his own business. He owned a bakery in

Matatufu Matatufu is a small village on south east end of Upolu island in Samoa. The village is part of Lotofaga Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District'') which is within the larger political district of Atua Atua are the gods and spirits of the Po ...

, ran a successful plantation in

Lotofaga Lotofaga is a village on the south coast of Upolu island in Samoa. Lotofaga is also the name of the larger Lotofaga Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District'') which includes Lotofaga village and two other villages, Vavau and Matatufu. The po ...

and owned cattle, as well as setting up Samoa Traders and J.B. Fonoti.Mr Fonotio Matautia
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', November 1974, p101 In the 1940s he was described as the only independent Samoan merchant in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

. In 1939 he was a claimant to the Mata'afa title, but lost it to Fiame Faumuina. A member of the

Fono of Faipule The Legislative Assembly (), also known as the Parliament of Samoa (), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan Parliament is composed of two parts: the O le Ao o le Ma ...

, he served as its president between 1939 and 1947. In

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

he was elected to the new Legislative Assembly. Although he lost his seat in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

, he returned to the Legislative Assembly following the

1954 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1954. Africa * French legislative by-election, 1954 (Guinea) * 1954 Southern Rhodesian general election * 1954 Gambian legislative election * 1954 Gold Coast legislative election Asia * 1954 Iranian le ...

, after which he joined the Executive Council and was given the Agriculture portfolio. In 1956 the Executive Council was reorganised and he became member for Health. Ioane retired from politics due to ill health prior to the 1957 elections. In 1959 he was appointed a director of the new Bank of Western Samoa. However, he returned to politics to contest the 1964 elections, running against incumbent Prime Minister Fiame Mataafa. He lost by 60 votes to 26.Samoan election results by constituency 1964–2016
Samoa Election Results Database Ioane died in October 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ioane, Fonoti 1901 births Samoan chiefs 20th-century Samoan businesspeople Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Government ministers of Samoa 1974 deaths