Le Tagaloa Pita is a high chief '' matai'' and a former Member of Parliament of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. He is a ''matai'' from the village of Sili on the island of Savai'i and has an honorary doctorate from Drew University in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. During his political career, he was a member of the

Human Rights Protection Party The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, ) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1979 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defeat in 2021. Former Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele ...

(HRPP) and a cabinet minister with the portfolios of economic affairs and post office. Prior to entering politics, Pita was acting principal of Alafua Agricultural Campus in Samoa, part of the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

. He was elected for a second term in parliament at the 1973 general election. and retained his seat in the same electorate until the year 2000.

Family

Le Tagaloa Pita's wife

Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa OM (25 June 1932 – 14 August 2014) was a chief ( ''matai''), scholar, historian and professor of Samoa. An authority on Samoan culture and language, she was one of the most educated female ''matai'' in the country wit ...

is a distinguished professor, educator and author 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 The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

Medical School in New Zealand. Their daughter Leinani Aiono-Le Tagaloa is an assistant clinical professor in anesthesiology at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, 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.

Family

References

Further reading