Fonoti Matautia Ioane (John) Brown (17 February 1901 – 9 October 1974) was a Western Samoan chief, businessman and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly in two spells between 1948 and 1957, and held the portfolios of Agriculture and Health.

Biography

Born in 1901, Ioane was educated at the Marist Brothers school between 1908 and 1913. He worked as a salesman for

Burns Philp Burns Philp (properly Burns, Philp & Co, Limited) was once a major Australian shipping line and merchant that operated in the South Pacific. When the well-populated islands around New Guinea were targeted for blackbirding in the 1880s, a new ...

and Westbrook before setting up his own business. He owned a bakery in

Matatufu Matatufu is a small village on south east end of Upolu island in Samoa. The village is part of Lotofaga Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District'') which is within the larger political district of Atua. The population is 465. Neighbouring villa ...

, ran a successful plantation in

Lotofaga Lotofaga is a village on the south coast of Upolu island in Samoa. Lotofaga is also the name of the larger Lotofaga Electoral Constituency (''Faipule District'') which includes Lotofaga village and two other villages, Vavau and Matatufu. The v ...

and owned cattle, as well as setting up Samoa Traders and J.B. Fonoti.Mr Fonotio Matautia
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', November 1974, p101 In the 1940s he was described as the only independent Samoan merchant in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...

. In 1939 he was a claimant to the Mata'afa title, but lost it to Fiame Faumuina. A member of the

Fono of Faipule The Fono of Faipule was a legislature in Western Samoa during the colonial era. It consisted of representatives (''faipule'') from each district.1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

he was elected to the new Legislative Assembly. Although he lost his seat in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, he returned to the Legislative Assembly following the 1954 elections, after which he joined the Executive Council and was given the Agriculture portfolio. In 1956 the Executive Council was reorganised and he became member for Health. Ioane retired from politics due to ill health prior to the 1957 elections. In 1959 he was appointed a director of the new

Bank of Western Samoa A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

. However, he returned to politics to contest the 1964 elections, running against incumbent Prime Minister Fiame Mataafa. He lost by 60 votes to 26.Samoan election results by constituency 1964–2016
Samoa Election Results Database Ioane died in October 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ioane, Fonoti 1901 births Samoan chiefs 20th-century Samoan businesspeople Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Government ministers of Samoa 1974 deaths