Tinomana Milou Ebb (27 October 1934 — 13 March 2009) 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 and

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

who served as president of the

Assembly of French Polynesia The Assembly of French Polynesia (, ; Tahitian: ''Te apoʻoraʻa rahi o te fenua Māʻohi'') is the unicameral legislature of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. It is located at Place Tarahoi in Papeete, Tahiti. It wa ...

from 1995 to 1996 and Mayor of Teva I Uta from 1977 to 2001. He was a member of

Here Ai'a Here Ai’a (), also known as Te Pupu Here Ai'a Te Nunaa ia Ora (), is a pro-independence political party in French Polynesia. It was founded by John Teariki and Henri Bouvier in 1965 following the banning of the pro-independence Democratic Rally ...

. He was the father of politician Valentina Cross. Ebb was born in Papeetee and grew up in the Leeward Islands before moving to Mataiea to become a farmer. He became involved in business, and was chair of the Marama Nui electricity company. As chair, he commissioned the first hydroelectric power station in

Papeari Pape'ari is a village on the south coast of Tahiti. It is located in Tahiti-nui district, around 32 miles from Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael K ...

in 1981. He unsuccessfully contested the 1972 French Polynesian legislative election as a candidate for

. He was elected as mayor of Teva I Uta in March 1977, and later that year was elected to the

in the 1977 election as a United Front candidate. Following the resignation of Jean Juventin in March 1978 he was appointed to the governing council as Minister of Health and Social Affairs. He resigned from the council in July 1979. He was re-elected at the 1982 election. Following the death of Here Ai'a leader John Teariki in 1983 Ebb seemed likely to succeed him, but lost the position to Juventin. He subsequently split from the party and founded ''Te Aratia o te Nunaa''. Despite the split, at the 1986 election he ran alongside Juventin as part of the Amuitahira'a No Polynesia coalition, and at the 1991 election as part of the Polynesian Union. A coalition deal with president

Gaston Flosse Gaston Flosse (born 24 June 1931) is a French Polynesian politician who has been President of French Polynesia on five separate occasions. He is currently a member of the Senate of France and has been a French junior minister under Jacques Chirac ...

saw Juventin elected president of the Assembly, with Ebb as first vice-president. He rejoined Here Ai'a, but was thrown out of the party in June 1994 when the coalition collapsed. Ebb formed a new party, ''Te Avei’a Mau'', which supported Flosse's government. As a result, he was elected president of the Assembly in April 1995. He was re-elected at the 1996 election, but was the only member from his party. He lost the position of Assembly president, and subsequently joined Tahoera'a Huiraatira. After suffering a heart attack in December 2000, he was evacuated to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

for medical treatment. He retired from politics in 2001.

Honours

He was made a knight of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

and the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

. In 2016 a school in Mataiea was named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebb, Tinomana Milou 1934 births 2009 deaths People from Papeete French Polynesian farmers French Polynesian businesspeople Here Ai'a politicians Tahoera'a Huiraatira politicians Mayors of Teva I Uta Members of the Assembly of French Polynesia Speakers of the Assembly of French Polynesia Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite