Princess Lavinia Mata-ʻo-Tāone, Lady Maʻafu (2 April 1952 - 22 June 2018) was a member of the Tongan Royal family. She was the third daughter of Prince

Fatafehi Tuʻipelehake Prince Fatafehi Tuʻipelehake OBE (Sione Ngū Manumataongo; 7 January 1922 – 10 April 1999) was the youngest son of Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga. He was the prime minister of Tonga from 1965 to 1991, a record tenure of over 25 years, ser ...

Biography

Lavinia Mata-ʻo-Tāone was born in

Nukuʻalofa Nukualofa ( , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group. History First western records of Nukualofa On 10 June 1777, British ...

on 4 April 1952, the third daughter of Prince

and Princess Melenaite Tupoumoheofo Veikune. Her grandmother, Queen

Sālote Tupou III Sālote Tupou III (born Sālote Mafileo Pilolevu; 13 March 1900 – 16 December 1965) was Queen of Tonga from 1918 to her death in 1965. She reigned for nearly 48 years, the longest of any Tongan monarch. She was well known for her height, stan ...

, gave her the name "Mata-ʻo-Tāone" after a '' kie hingoa'' passed down from Princess Lavinia Māhanga. She is a niece of King

Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV (Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Tupoulahi; 4 July 1918 – 10 September 2006) was List of monarchs of Tonga, King of Tonga from 1965 until his death in 2006. He was the tallest and heaviest Tongan monarch, weighing and measuring . ...

, and a cousin of Kings

George Tupou V George Tupou V (Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou; 4 May 194818 March 2012) was King of Tonga from 2006 until his death in 2012. He was the eldest son of King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV. After ascending the throne, George Tupou ann ...

and

Tupou VI Tupou VI (ʻAho‘eitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho; born 12 July 1959) is King of Tonga. The youngest child of King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, he served as Prime Minister of Tonga from 2000 to 2006. Following his elder brother's accession to the ...

. Lavinia married Siosaʻia Lausiʻi, who later inherited the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi 'Siosaia Lausiʻi, Lord Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi, also known as Lord Maʻafu (of Vaini and Tokomololo) (1 July 1955 – 12 December 2021), was a Tongan politician, military officer, and member of the Tongan nobility. Biography Lausiʻi was born in ...

and its estates of

Vaini Vaini is a district of Tongatapu division, Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scatt ...

and Tokomololo. They had two children, Tevita ʻUnga and Lavinia Fangaʻaka. Lavinia spent much time in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. She died there on 22 June 2018 at the age of 66. She was brought back to Tonga on 29 June for the

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

. After the King and other members of the royal family received the funeral cortege at Fuaʻamotu International Airport, she

lay in state Lying in state is the tradition in which the body of a deceased official, such as a head of state, is placed in a state building, either outside or inside a coffin, to allow the public to pay their respects. It traditionally takes place in a m ...

overnight at the royal villa in Matatoa. Fourteen churches attended the prayer vigil held at the villa. She was buried on the following day at Langi ko Huelo ʻo Hangai Tokelau in Tokomololo. The people of Vaini observed 10 days of mourning, with a sacred kava ceremony (''pongipongi tapu'') held at Ongokie Residence.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mata 'o Taone, Lavinia 1952 births 2018 deaths Tongan royalty People from Nukuʻalofa Tongan expatriates in New Zealand 20th-century Tongan women 21st-century Tongan women Children of prime ministers of Tonga