Baldwin Jacobson Lonsdale (5 August 1948 – 17 June 2017) was a

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

an politician and Anglican priest who served as the president of Vanuatu from 22 September 2014 until his death in 2017.

Early life and career

Lonsdale was born on

Mota Lava Mota Lava or Motalava is an island of the Banks group, in the north of Vanuatu. It forms a single coral system with the small island of Ra. The 2009 census figures give a population of 1640 inhabitants (Mota Lava + Ra), which amounts to a pop ...

, in the

Banks Islands The Banks Islands (in Bislama ''Bankis'') are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu. Together with the Torres Islands to their northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The island group lies about north of Maewo, and inclu ...

, in 1948. Before becoming president, Lonsdale was a civil servant who served as the secretary general of the province of Torba on the island of

. He later became an Anglican priest. Lonsdale was occasionally referred to as ''Womtelo Reverend Baldwin Lonsdale''. The title of ''Womtelo'' (“Rising Sun” in

Mwotlap Mwotlap (pronounced ; formerly known as ''Motlav'') is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people in Vanuatu. The majority of speakers are found on the island of Motalava in the Banks Islands, with smaller communities in the islands of Ra ...

) is the highest rank within the customary system of chiefly grades of his native island

2014 Presidential Election

Lonsdale was elected president in an indirect election by an electoral college consisting of members of parliament and provincial governors. The vote took eight rounds; the longest ballot in the country's history. In the last vote, Lonsdale received 46 votes of 58 possible satisfying the two-thirds majority requirement. The speaker of Vanuatu's parliament, Philip Boedoro, served as interim president during the voting. Lonsdale was the second Anglican priest after

John Bani John Bennett Bani (born 1 July 1941) is a former Vanuatuan politician who was the president of Vanuatu from 25 March 1999 to 24 March 2004. He is an Anglican priest from Pentecost Island, and is one of the founders of the Cultural Association whi ...

to be elected president of Vanuatu.

Presidency

In his first speech as president, Lonsdale stressed the importance of the appointment for the province of Torba, promised to uphold the constitution, and asked the people of Vanuatu to stand united. Baldwin Lonsdale

In March 2015, Lonsdale, who was attending the

World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction The World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction is a series of United Nations conferences focusing on disaster and climate risk management in the context of sustainable development. The World Conference has been convened three times, with each edit ...

Sendai, Japan is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date M ...

, appealed for international assistance in the aftermath of

Cyclone Pam Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam was the second most intense tropical cyclone of the South Pacific Ocean in terms of sustained winds and is regarded as one of the worst natural disasters in the history of Vanuatu. A total of 15–16 people lost ...

. In October 2015, while President Lonsdale was abroad, the then Speaker of Parliament Marcellino Pipite used his position as Acting President to issue a 'presidential pardon' to himself and 13 other MPs who had just been convicted of bribery and were awaiting sentence. Returning to Vanuatu only hours after the pardon was issued, Lonsdale expressed his sorrow at what had happened and gave a widely welcomed speech declaring that nobody is above the law and that "I will clean the dirt from my backyard". After consulting with legal experts and other leaders, Lonsdale revoked the pardon, citing the articles in the Vanuatu constitution which oblige leaders to avoid conflicts of interest and avoid bringing their integrity into question. Lonsdale's decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of Vanuatu.

Death

Lonsdale died on 17 June 2017 in

Port Vila Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate. Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the pr ...

of a heart attack at the age of 68. In his honour, the ''Arep Secondary School'' located on

Sola, Vanuatu {{Infobox settlement , name = Sola , other_name = , native_name = , settlement_type = Village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , pushpin_map ...

was renamed “Baldwin Lonsdale Memorial School” (abbreviated BLMS).''Baldwin Lonsdale Memorial School'' News & Development
(community page on Facebook).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonsdale, Baldwin 1948 births 2017 deaths People from Torba Province Presidents of Vanuatu Vanuatuan Anglican priests Vanuatuan chiefs