Olive Virginia Malienafau Nelson (17 August 1911 – 18 March 1970) was the first Pacific Island graduate of the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. Nelson was born in Samoa, the daughter of Olaf Nelson, a political leader in Western Samoa, and Rosabel Moors. She had two sisters and one brother, although her brother died of influenza in the 1918 epidemic. In 1919 the three sisters were sent to New Zealand to study at an exclusive school in Remuera. In 1931 Nelson received the Butterworth Prize for the highest law exam results in the university. In 1933 she travelled to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

with her sisters and father, and then returned to Auckland to continue her studies. Nelson completed her law degree in 1936 and was admitted to the bar the same year. Following her graduation, she returned to Samoa and became the country's first female barrister and solicitor. In 1939 she won the Western Samoan mixed doubles tennis championship with future Minister of Finance

Fred Betham Gustav Frederick Dertag Betham (11 April 1915 – 31 March 1984), also known by the Samoan name Fereti Misipita, was a Western Samoan politician and diplomat. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1948 to 1971 and as Minister ...

, who she went on to marry in 1942.Marriage of well-known Apia couple
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1942, p33 She died in 1970.

References

University of Auckland alumni Samoan lawyers 1911 births 1970 deaths 20th-century women lawyers {{Samoa-bio-stub

See also

References