Rapi Sotoa (died 2 February 1970) was an

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

n chief and politician. He served as President of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

between 1958 and 1968.

Biography

A high chief, Sotoa became chairman of the Council of Paramount Chiefs. Prior to entering politics he was a civil servant, starting work as a sanitation inspector in 1949.High Chief Rapi Sotoa
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', May 1970, p132 In 1958 he became President of the Senate, holding the post for ten years. As a Senator he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1960 and one of the signatories of the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. In 1968 he became an assistant to the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. He died on 2 February 1970 in

Tutuila Tutuila is the largest and most populous island of American Samoa and is part of the archipelago of the Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific. It is located roughly northeast of Brisba ...

.Sotoa Rapi
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', March 1970, p157

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sotoa, Rapi American Samoan chiefs American Samoan civil servants American Samoa senators 1970 deaths