Prince Viliami Tupoulahi Mailefihi Tukuʻaho (17 June 1957, ''Taimi Media Network'', 7 January 2011 - 14 June 2014 "OBITUARY: PRINCE TUʻIPELEHAKE PASSES ON"
, ''Tonga Daily News'', 16 juin 2014) was a

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 , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

n politician and

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

, member of the royal family, and holder of the Tuʻipelehake prince title, one of the thirty three titles of the Tongan hereditary nobility.

Title and Family

Viliami (William) Tukuʻaho was the youngest son 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 ...

. He inherited the

Tuʻipelehake The Tuʻipelehake (or Tuʻi Pelehake to be more consistent with similar titles, like Tuʻi Tonga, Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua and Tuʻi Kanokupolu) is one of the highest ranking chiefly titles in Tonga. In the absence of the ancient Tuʻi Faleua title, t ...

title after his brother Prince Sione ʻUluvalu Ngu Takeivulai Tukuʻaho died in a car crash in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in July 2006. He was the seventh title holder since its institution in the 19th century. He was married four times. In 1983 he married a

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

, Mele Vikatolia (Mary Victoria) Faletau, renouncing his princely title in order to do so. They had two children. His princely title was however restored by King

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 ...

in 2008. His fourth marriage, in January 2011, followed the divorce of his third wife, ʻEneʻio Tatafu. He then married Fifita Holeva Tuʻihaʻangana, from a noble family, Lord Tuʻihaʻangana's sister.

Education

Mailefihi completed his studies at ''Queensland Agricultural College'' (part of the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

), in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, then at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

), where he obtained a Certificate of International Affairs, and finally a graduation in port and naval administration et navale at the Institute of Science and Technology at

Wales University Wales ( ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. , it had a population of 3.2 mill ...

(currently named Cardiff University)."Prime Minister announces two new Cabinet Appointments"
Government of Tonga website, 5 May 2009

Military, administrative and political career

He briefly served in the

Tonga Defence Services His Majesty's Armed Forces (HMAF) is the military of Tonga. It is composed of three operational components and two support elements (logistics and training groups). The mission of HMAF is to: "Defend the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Tonga". T ...

from 1979 to 1981. He was the Military Liaison Officer at the Foreign Affairs Ministry from 1980 to 1981. From 1986 to 1992, he was the Director of the Navy Department. He served as Noble Representative from

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% o ...

from 2006 to 2007, then as Noble Representative from

Haʻapai Haʻapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs, and shoals in the central part of Tonga. It has a combined land area of . The Tongatapu island group lies to its south, and the Vavaʻu group lies to its north. Seventeen of the Haʻapai islands are ...

from 2008 to 2009. In 2009 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Following the 2010 election he was not reappointed to

Sialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō Siale ʻAtaongo Kaho, Lord Tuʻivakanō (born 15 January 1952) is a Tongans, Tongan politician who served as the Prime Minister of Tonga, prime minister of Tonga from 2010 to 2014. Descent and naming Tuʻivakanō was born in Niutoua on Tongata ...

's cabinet.

Sports career

Mailefihi was a high level sportsman, being captain of the

Tonga national rugby sevens team The Tonga national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series. Tonga has participated in all but one of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments. World Rugby Sevens Series 2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series Tonga have partici ...

in the late 1970s. It was that team which won the golden medal at the

1979 Pacific Games The 6th South Pacific Games (), also known as Suva 1979, held in Suva, Fiji from 28 August to 8 September 1979, was the sixth edition of the South Pacific Games. Participating countries Nineteen Pacific nations or territories attended: Sports ...

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous 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 Rew ...

, defeating

Fiji Fiji, 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 of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, the host country, in the final. He was also the

Tonga national rugby union team The Tonga national rugby union team () represents Tonga in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed ''ʻIkale Tahi (Sea Eagles)'' and is governed by the Tonga Rugby Union. Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans precede the ...

head coach during the

1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 mat ...

, as well as manager of the Tonga national team at the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

Death

Suffering from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

since several years, and after suffering an amputation of both legs due to this reason, he was hospitalised again at the beginning of June 2014 and died in hospital on 14 June.

Notes

External links

Prince Mailefihi international statistics at ESPN Scrum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tukuaho, Mailefihi Tongan politicians Tongan nobles Tongan rugby union coaches Tongan rugby union players University of Queensland alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of Cardiff University 1957 births 2014 deaths Tonga international rugby union players Rugby union locks Tonga international rugby sevens players Tongan rugby sevens players Tonga national rugby union team coaches Children of prime ministers of Tonga