Francis Ariioehau Sanford (11 May 1912 – 21 December 1996) was a

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

n politician. He served as a member of the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from 1967 until 1978.

Early life

Sanford was born in

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

and had an American grandfather.Brij V. Lal & Kate Fortune (2000
The Pacific Islands: an encyclopedia, Volume 1
p282 He initially worked in the docks, before becoming a waiter and then a teacher. After 1932, he became a civil servant, becoming Station chief in the

Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera alo ...

. In 1939 he married Elisa Snow, with whom he had five children. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he rallied the "Free French" and acted as liaison officer to the Americans in

Bora Bora Bora Bora (French language, French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands (Society Islands), Leeward Islands in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific. The Leeward Islands comprise the we ...

. After the war he returned to education, working as a teacher in Bora Bora. In 1956 he was appointed Director of Primary Education in the French Polynesian government.

Political career

In 1965 Sanford was elected mayor of

Faʻaʻā Faaā (also Faaa or Faaʻā; ) is a commune in the suburbs of Papeete in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. Faaā is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Island ...

. In the 1967 elections to the

, he was elected as the French Polynesian deputy, defeating incumbent MP John Teariki by 13,633 votes to 13,285.New deputy seeks dissolution of Tahiti's assembly
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', May 1967, p32 In the National Assembly he initially joined the

Independent Republicans The Independent Republicans (, ; RI) were a liberal-conservative political group in France founded in 1962, which became a political party in 1966 known as the National Federation of the Independent Republicans (''Fédération nationale des ré ...

, before switching to the

Progress and Modern Democracy Progress and Modern Democracy ( PDM) was a French centrist political group of the National Assembly elected in 1968 after the May 1968 crisis. It was composed of the Christian democrat deputies belonging to the Democratic Centre and the conserva ...

group following the 1968 elections. He later joined the

Reformist Movement The Reformist Movement (, , MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium, which includes social-liberal and conservative-liberal factions. Stemming from the Belgian Liberal Party founded in 1846, the MR is one of the oldest par ...

after its foundation in 1972. He remained a member of the National Assembly until

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, and later served as President of French Polynesia's Council of Government. He was also the founder of the

Aia Api The Aia Api () is a political party in French Polynesia. It was founded in 1982 by Émile Vernaudon. At the last legislative elections on May 23, 2004, and by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and th ...

party. He retired from politics in 1985.Francis Sanford: Politician in French Polynesia
''The New York Times'', 24 December 1996

References

1912 births People from Papeete French Polynesian schoolteachers French Polynesian civil servants Mayors of places in French Polynesia Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Aia Api politicians 1996 deaths category:Members of the Tahitian Academy {{FrenchPolynesia-mayor-stub