Sione Lātūkefu (10 April 1927 – 2 June 1995) was a

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

n academic and historian, and the author of several significant works on Tongan history. Lātūkefu was born in

Kolovai Kolovai is a village on the Tongan island of Tongatapu. Its 2006 population was 4,098. The village is notable for its lakalaka, the national dance of Tonga. A national monument has been proposed to preserve the site of the koka tree where members ...

and educated at

Tupou College Tupou College is a Methodist boys' secondary boarding school in Toloa on the island of Tongatapu, Tonga. It is located on the Eastern District of Tongatapu near the village of Malapo. The school is owned by the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga. Est ...

and at

Siaʻatoutai Theological College Siaatoutai Theological College is a theological seminary in Tonga. It was established in 1948 by the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, being split away from Tupou College. The College is a member of the South Pacific Association of Theological Scho ...

, before attending the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, where he studied history and trained as a teacher. He then returned to Tonga to teach at Tupou College, but in 1962 returned to Australia to study at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, graduating with a PhD in 1967. His thesis was on ''Church and state in Tonga : the influence of the Wesleyan Methodist missionaries on the political development of Tonga, 1826-1875''. After failing to find suitable employment in Tonga, he moved to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

in April 1967 to take up a role as lecturer in social disciplines at the newly-founded

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

. He worked at the University of Papua New Guinea for 18 years before retiring to Canberra. In 1989, he founded the Tongan History Association to encourage studies of Tongan history. In 1988 he was appointed as principal of

Pacific Theological College The Pacific Theological College (PTC) is an ecumenical theological college located in Suva, Fiji. Established in 1965, it opened for training in 1966 and was originally designed as the only regional institution to offer degree-level education in th ...

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, where he worked until 1991. He died in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 2 June 1995.

Bibliography

* ''Church and State in Tonga : The Wesleyan Methodist Missionaries and Political Development, 1822-1875'',

Press, 1974, * ''The Tongan Constitution: A brief history to celebrate its centenary'', Tonga Traditions Committee Publication, 1975, ASIN B0000EDZOX * ''Papua New Guinea: A Century of Colonial Impact, 1884-1984'',

, 1989, * "Tonga at Independence and Now", in

Brij Lal Brij Lal is a Fijian politician and Member of the Parliament of Fiji. He is of Indian descent. Lal was educated at Labasa College. He later went on to achieve a Teaching certificate from the National Teachers College. He did his Bachelor of ...

& Hank Nelson (eds.), ''Lines Across the Sea: Colonial Inheritance in the Post Colonial Pacific'', Brisbane: Pacific History Association, 1995, ; (posthum.) * "Pacific Islander Missionaries", ''in'' Doug Munro & Andrew Thornley (eds.), ''The Covenant Makers: Islander Missionaries in the Pacific'', 1996, ; (posthum.) * "The Impact of the British on the Tongan Traditional Concept of Justice and Law", ''in'' Hermann J. Hiery & John M. MacKenzie (eds.), ''European Impact and Pacific Influence: British and German Colonial Policy in the Pacific Islands and the Indigenous Response'', 1997, ; (posthum.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latukefu, Sione 1927 births 1995 deaths Tongan historians 20th-century Tongan writers 20th-century historians Tongan expatriates in Australia University of Queensland alumni Australian National University alumni Academic staff of the University of Papua New Guinea Tongan expatriates in Papua New Guinea Tongan Methodists