Elizabeth Kahanu Kaʻauwai Kalanianaʻole Woods (March 8, 1879 – February 20, 1932) was the wife of
Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, Hawaii's second delegate to Congress.
Early life
She was born in
Makawao
Makawao is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, Maui County, Hawaii, Hawaii, United States. The population was 7,297 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located on the rural northwest slope of Haleakala on East Maui ...
, Maui on March 8, 1879, and during her childhood was a protégée of her cousin,
Queen Kapiʻolani
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...
. Kalanianaʻole's father was a lesser chief of the island of Maui named George Kaleiwohi Kaʻauwai (1843–1883) and his wife (Elizabeth's mother) was Ulalia Muolo Keaweaheulu Laʻanui (1848–1911).
Her family descends from the ancient
Mo'i of Maui. Her grandfather was early Hawaiian statesman
Zorobabela Kaʻauwai
Zorobabela Kaʻauwai (/1806 – August 8, 1856) was an early politician and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Beginning as an assistant to the Hoapili, Governor of Maui, he served many political posts including Assistant Judge of the first Supr ...
while
William Hoapili Kaʻauwai
William Hoapili Kaʻauwai ( – March 30, 1874) was a Hawaiian high chief and politician, and religious deacon of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He served two terms as a member of the House of Representatives of the Legislature of the Kingdom in 1862 ...
, the first ordained Hawaiian
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
priests, and his wife High Chiefess
Mary Ann Kiliwehi (daughter of
Liliha), who both accompanied
Queen Emma on her visit to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
in the 1860s, were her aunt and uncle. She was educated at the
Sacred Hearts Academy
Sacred Hearts Academy, also known as Sacred Hearts or SHA, is located on 3253 Waialae Avenue, in the town of Kaimuki in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Roman Catholic college preparatory school for girls founded in 1909 to serve the needs of early ...
.
Marriage to Kūhiō
![Prince and Princess Kalanianaole of Hawaii, posed in a room in Chicago, Illinois, 1911](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Prince_and_Princess_Kalanianaole_of_Hawaii%2C_posed_in_a_room_in_Chicago%2C_Illinois%2C_1911.jpg)
Elizabeth met Kūhiō in 1895 after his participation in the failed
Wilcox Rebellion had brought him into jail for almost a year. Kahanu brought him food, and sang songs to break his isolation. Just after he was released she married Prince Kūhiō on October 8, 1896. Their wedding was held in the
Saint Andrew's Cathedral in
Honolulu, Oahu.
She and her husband decided that they would leave Hawaii for a while since the monarchy was overthrown and hopes of restoration were dim. For two years she and Kūhiō traveled in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
as wealthy "nobility" and were usually recognized as royals even though the Kingdom had been overthrown. However, once a German count in Geneva, Switzerland, referred loudly to their dark skin color. Her husband used his boxing skill to knock the man out. As time passed her husband lost his feeling of bitterness and wanted to be back in the middle of the action in the
Territory of Hawaii
The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...
.
They arrived home in September 1901 and settled at ''Pualeilani'', the Waikiki home they had inherited from Kūhiō's aunt, Queen Kapiʻolani (where she died).
Description
![Elizabeth Kahanu Kalanianaole4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Elizabeth_Kahanu_Kalanianaole4.jpg)
In ''
Jack London
John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
and Hawaii'' by Charmian London, Princess Elizabeth is described as:
... a gorgeous creature that eclipsed the handsome look of her husband Kuhio. Her bigness was a trifle overwhelming to one new to the physical aristocracy of the island people. One would hesitate to call her fat, she was just big, sumptuos, bearing her splendid proportions with the remarkable poise that had already been noticed in Hawaiian women, only more magnificently. Her bare shoulders were described as beautiful, the pose of her head majestic, with heavy fine dark hair that showed bronze lights in its wavy mass. She was superbly gowned in silk that had a touch of purple or lilac about it, just the tone for her full black, calm eyes and war, tawny skin. For these of chiefly blood are many shades fairer than the commoners. Jack London and Charmian London agreed that they could not expect ever to behold a more queenly woman. The descriptive powers of these were exasperatingly inept to picture the manner in which the Princess stood, touching with hers the hands of all who passed before her, with a brief, graceful droop of her fine head, and a fleeting, perfunctory, yet graciouse flash of little teeth under her small fine mouth. Glorious she was, the Princess Kalanianaʻole, every inch a princess in the very tropical essence of her. Always shall I remember her as resplendent exotic flower, swaying and bending its head with unaffected, innate grace. And the Princess Elizabeth Kalanianaʻole has set an example, a pattern, that will make us full critical of royal women of any blood.
Death
In 1917, Kūhiō's aunt,
Queen Liliʻuokalani
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...
, died at her home in
Washington Place
Washington Place is a Greek Revival palace in the Hawaii Capital Historic District in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was where Queen Liliuokalani was arrested during the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Later it became the official residence of the governo ...
. Elizabeth and Kūhiō were at her bedside. On January 7, 1922, Kūhiō died and was interred in the
Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
. Using her own funds, Elizabeth converted the original tomb building into a memorial chapel for her husband which was dedicated on March 26, 1923. The Hawaii Territorial Legislature later reimbursed her for the expenses.
She was appointed to fill her husband's place as a member of the Hawaiian Home Commission. She remarried to
James Frank Woods
James Frank Woods (June 27, 1872 – June 24, 1930) was a major landowner during the Kingdom of Hawaii who was related to royalty and many civil leaders.
Life
His father was James Woods, who was born in Liverpool, England in 1845, and came to ...
in 1923. Woods was widower of Eva Parker Woods, daughter of
Samuel Parker, who was the first Republican candidate for congressional delegate, and himself a great-grandson of
Parker Ranch
Parker Ranch is a working cattle ranch on the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii, now run by a charitable trust.
History
The ranch was founded in 1847 and is one of the oldest ranches in the United States, pre-dating many mainland ra ...
founder
John Palmer Parker.
She also was an influential leader in the Hawaii suffragist movement and traveled around the islands teaching local women about their rights to vote.
She died at Queen's Hospital on February 20, 1932. She had been president of the Native Sons and Daughters of Hawaii, Honourable President of the
Kaʻahumanu Society
The Kaʻahumanu Society (official name: ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu) is a civic club in Hawaii formed by Princess Victoria Kamāmalu in 1864 for the relief of the elderly and the ill. The club celebrates the life of Queen Kaʻahumanu and the preservatio ...
, regent of Hui Kalama, and Moi of the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors. Because of poor financial management and the couples' generosity to the Hawaiian people, most of her first husband and her own wealth had been depleted by the time of her death and many artifacts of the Hawaiian royal family had to be auctioned to pay off the debt on her estate.
She was buried in the Oahu Cemetery next to her second husband.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalanianaole, Elizabeth Kahanu
1879 births
House of Kawānanakoa
House of Kalākaua
Hawaiian princesses
1932 deaths
Burials at Oahu Cemetery
House of Kalokuokamaile
Hawaii suffragists