Samuelu Penitala Teo is a

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

an politician. He is the son of Sir

Fiatau Penitala Teo Sir Fiatau Penitala Teo (23 July 1911, in Funafuti – 25 November 1998) was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. Teo was appointed Chief in the House of Chiefs of Niutao in 1945 and was reappointed as a Chief on 29 June 1997 ...

who was appointed as the first

Governor General of Tuvalu The governor-general of Tuvalu is the vice-regal representative of the Tuvaluan monarch, currently King Charles III, in the country of Tuvalu. The monarch is the head of state of Tuvalu, with the governor-general performing the monarch's duti ...

(1978–1986) following independence from Great Britain. Samuelu Teo himself served as the Acting Governor-General of Tuvalu from January until 28 September 2021. He had succeeded Acting Governor-General Teniku Talesi and remained in office until the Rev.

Tofiga Vaevalu Falani Sir Tofiga Vaevalu Falani, is a Tuvaluan reverend who has served as Governor-General of Tuvalu since 2021 and the President of the Church of Tuvalu since 2008. In his capacity as Church President, he has represented the church at meetings of t ...

was sworn in as the 10th Governor-General in September 2021.

Career

He was first elected to the

Parliament of Tuvalu The Parliament of Tuvalu (called ''Fale i Fono'' in Tuvaluan, or ''Palamene o Tuvalu'') is the unicameral national legislature of Tuvalu. The place at which the parliament sits is called the ''Vaiaku maneapa''. The ''maneapa'' on each island is ...

at the 1998 general election to represent the constituency of

Niutao Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu. It is also one of the three districts that consist of only one island - not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has ...

. He served as the Minister of Works, Energy and Communications in the governments led by

Ionatana Ionatana Ionatana Ionatana, CVO OBE CPM (5 November 1938 – 8 December 2000), was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Funafuti in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Tuvalu f ...

(1999-2000) and

Lagitupu Tuilimu Lagitupu Tulimu is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu, who represented the constituency of Nanumea. He served as the Acting Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 8 December 2000 to 24 February 2001 following the death of incumbent Ionata ...

(2000-2001). He was the Minister for Natural Resources in the governments led by

Faimalaga Luka Faimalaga Luka OBE (April 15, 1940 – August 19, 2005) was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Nukufetau in the Parliament of Tuvalu. He served as Governor-General and the Prime Minister of T ...

(2001) and

Koloa Talake Koloa Fineaso Talake (7 June 1934 – 26 May 2008) was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He represented the constituency of Vaitupu in the Parliament of Tuvalu from 1993. He served as Minister of Finance (1993-96) and was th ...

(2001–2002). He was re-elected in the

2002 Tuvaluan general election General elections were held in Tuvalu on 25 July 2002. All candidates were independents, as there are no political parties in the country. Saufatu Sopoanga was appointed Prime Minister after the election as the previous Prime Minister Koloa Talake ...

, then lost his seat in the

2006 Tuvaluan general election General elections were held in Tuvalu on 3 August 2006 to elect fifteen members to the Parliament. There were 5,765 eligible voters on the electoral roll. 32 candidates, including 2 women, competed for the 15 seats (the parliament had been increas ...

when the vote of the Tuvaluan electorate resulted in the election of 8 new members to the 15 member parliament. Samuelu Teo was again elected to represent

in the

2015 Tuvaluan general election General elections were held in Tuvalu on 31 March 2015. The state of emergency created by Cyclone Pam resulted in the election being delayed twice. The election was originally scheduled for 19 March, then after Cyclone Pam caused damage to the is ...

. The 2015 election was strongly contested with 6 candidates including the two incumbent MPs (

Vete Sakaio Vete Sakaio OBE is a Tuvaluan politician. A civil engineer by trade, he was described in 2008 as a "leader of the community" on his home island of Niutao. He is also the Vice President of the Tuvalu Association of Sports and National Olympic C ...

and

Fauoa Maani Fauoa Maani MBE is a Tuvaluan politician. He worked as a journalist and served as clerk to the national Parliament, and was named Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2009, a title awarded to him in recognition of his "public se ...

) and three former MPs (Sir

Tomu Sione Sir Tomu Malaefone Sione (17 November 1941 – April 2016) was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He worked as a journalist from 1962 to 1968, and held the post of radio announcer in the Broadcasting and Information Departm ...

Tavau Teii Tavau Teii is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. Election After standing unsuccessfully for Parliament in the 2002 general election in the constituency of Niutao, Teii won a by-election on 5 May 2003 triggered by the deat ...

and Teo). Following the

2019 Tuvaluan general election General elections were held in Tuvalu on 9 September 2019. There were 37 candidates seeking election to the Parliament, two of whom are women: Valisi Alimau, who was contesting in the Nukufetau electorate, and Puakena Boreham who was seeking re ...

, on 19 September 2019, the members of parliament elected

Kausea Natano Kausea Natano (born 5 July 1957) is a Tuvaluan politician who is serving as Prime Minister of Tuvalu, in office since 19 September 2019. He is also serving as an MP for Funafuti, having also served as the country's deputy prime minister and mi ...

from

Funafuti Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census), and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of lan ...

as prime minister; and Teo was elected as Speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu. His brother Feleti Penitala Teo (b. 9 Oct. 1962) was attorney general of Tuvalu (1991-2000); and in December 2014 he was appointed the Executive Director of the

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is both a general and a tuna regional fisheries management organisation established to conserve and manage tuna and other highly migratory fish stocks across the western and central are ...

(WCPFC).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teo, Samuelu Penitala Governors-General of Tuvalu Members of the Parliament of Tuvalu People from Niutao Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Speakers of the Parliament of Tuvalu