Franz Boluminski (12 November 1863 – 28 April 1913) was a German

colonial administrator Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

. Boluminski was born in Graudenz,

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: ...

. He served in the German Army in

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a 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 Mo ...

and in 1894 went to work for the

German New Guinea Company The German New Guinea Company (german: Deutsche Neuguinea-Kompagnie) was a German Chartered Company which exploited insular territory in and near present Papua New Guinea. History In the 1870s and 1880s German commercial firms began to site ...

Astrolabe Bay Astrolabe Bay is a large body of water off the south coast of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, located at . It is a part of the Bismarck Sea and stretches from the Cape Iris in the south to the Cape Croisilles to the north. It was discovered i ...

near modern-day

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Hist ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. In March 1899 he transferred into the German colonial service and was posted to new station of

Kavieng Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2009, it had a population of 17,248. Kavi ...

on the island of

New Ireland New Ireland may refer to: Geography * New Ireland (island), large island in the state of Papua New Guinea * New Ireland Province, administrative division of Papua New Guinea Politics * United Ireland, the proposed unification of the islan ...

. In 1910 he was promoted to district officer. His major feat was the construction of a road along the north-eastern coast of the island. He made each village along the coast construct a section and then maintain it. The road eventually became known as the

Boluminski Highway The Boluminski Highway is the main land transportation route on the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. It runs from the provincial capital of Kavieng for 193 km down the east coast of the island to Namatanai and beyond. The whole ...

, named in his honour. At the same time he established

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

plantations connected to the highway and this made New Ireland one of the most profitable parts of

German New Guinea German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...

. He died of heat-stroke and is now buried in Bagail Cemetery in Kavieng.

References

1863 births 1913 deaths People from Grudziądz People from the Province of Prussia Schutztruppe personnel History of Papua New Guinea German people in German East Africa People of former German colonies German people in German New Guinea {{Germany-mil-bio-stub Deaths from hyperthermia