Jonah Kapena
| Jonah Kapena | |
|---|---|
| Assistant Judge of the Supreme Court of Hawaii | |
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In office May 10, 1842 – 1848 |
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| Member of the Kingdom of Hawaii House of Nobles |
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In office 1845, 1850–1866 |
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| Personal details | |
| Died | March 12, 1868 Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Resting place | Kawaiahaʻo Church |
| Nationality | Hawaiian |
| Spouse(s) | Kahilipulu |
| Children | John Makini Kapena (hānai) |
| Alma mater | Lahainaluna Seminary |
| Occupation | Royal Secretary, Judge, Civil Servant, Editor |
| Signature |  |
Jonah Kapena (died March 12, 1868), also spelled Iona Kapena, was a royal advisor and statesman in the Kingdom of Hawaii who helped draft the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii. In addition to his legislative career as a member of the House of Nobles, he also served as a judge and became an assistant judge of Hawaii's first Supreme Court.
Nothing is known of Kapena's early life except that he was born into a family from the lesser strata of Hawaiian nobility, subordinate to the high chiefs or aliʻi nui. In 1831, he became a member of the first class of the Lahainaluna Seminary under American missionary Lorrin Andrews, the school's first principal. His classmates included historian David Malo and Samuel Kamakau and politicians Boaz Mahune and Timothy Haʻalilio. He graduated in 1835 after four years in the school.
Many graduates of Lahainaluna became politicians or advisors in the court of King Kamehameha III. Kapena became the secretary and advisor to Kīnaʻu, the Kuhina Nui (an office similar to that of a prime minister or co-regent), and represented her in the drafting of Hawaii's first constitution and declaration of rights. In an effort to establish a stable government against colonial ambitions, King Kamehameha III, the Kuhina Nui and the council of chiefs sought to make Hawaii a constitutional monarchy. Kapena and Boaz Mahune (representing the King) assisted American missionary William Richards in the endeavor of drafting this document. Mahune and the graduates at Lahainaluna were chiefly credited with drafting the Declaration of Rights of 1839 in the contemporary newspaper The Polynesian. However, research by Hawaiian historian Jon Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio credits Richards as the actual author of the Declaration and the majority of the later 1840 Constitution while Mahune and Kapena were only assistants. The 1840 constitution codified the existing political structure of the kingdom and created the Hawaiian Supreme Court and the Legislature of Hawaii.
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