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

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

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 Weslyan Church of Tonga. Estab ...

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 Schoo ...

, before attending the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

, 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 research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, 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 Z ...

in April 1967 to take up a role as lecturer in social disciplines at the newly-founded University of Papua New Guinea. 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 and largest 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 Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), 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 ...

, where he worked until 1991. He died in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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'', University of Papua New Guinea, 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 Art ...

Hank Nelson Hyland Neil "Hank" Nelson (21 October 1937 – 17 February 2012) was one of Australia's foremost historians of the Pacific, particularly Papua New Guinea. His interest in the region began in 1966 when he took a teaching position at the Adminis ...

(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 Tongan writers 20th-century Tongan writers 20th-century historians Tongan expatriates in Australia University of Queensland alumni Australian National University alumni University of Papua New Guinea faculty