Laulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa
| Laulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
23 June 1928 Samoa |
| Died | 19 November 2007 (aged 79) Samoa |
| Spouse(s) | Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II |
| Occupation | Diplomat, chief of Samoa |
Masiofo La'ulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa, also known as Fetaui Mata'afa (23 June 1928 – 19 November 2007), was an ambassador and a member of parliament in Samoa. She was also the wife of Samoa's first Prime Minister, Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II. Their daughter, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, is a matai high chief and Cabinet Minister in the Government of Samoa. The honorific title "Masiofo" is the queenly title for the wife of a paramount chief in Samoa.
Fetaui Mata'afa was the eldest daughter of Le Mamea Matatumua Ata OBE, a Framer of the Samoan Constitution, and Faalelei Masina Lupe. Her husband, Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II, C.B.E., was Samoa's first Prime Minister following independence. She was an educator, community worker, politician, and diplomat.
She was recognised internationally for the prominent role she played in enhancing the status of women. As a result of her efforts, she held numerous Government and private sector posts in Samoa, and internationally primarily in the Pacific Region but also worldwide. A long-serving Member of the Samoan Parliament and thereafter as one of her country's most senior diplomats.
Educated at Malifa School in Apia, she left for secondary schooling in New Zealand attending firstly Kowhai Intermediate in Auckland and thereafter Wairarapa College in Masterton. Mata'afa then became a student at Victoria University in Wellington studying for, and obtaining a teaching degree from the University's Ardmore Teachers' Training College. Following graduation, she taught at Boulcott Street Primary School in Lower Hutt, New Zealand (1952) before returning to Samoa and using her knowledge for the benefit of her nation teaching at the premier secondary school – Samoa College, Vaivase (1953–1961). She left teaching on her marriage to Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu’u II, C.B.E..
In 1964 she had bestowed upon her the chiefly orator's title "La'ulu" from the village of Lotofaga for which her husband was the then sitting member of parliament. Her husband's untimely and sudden death came as a great shock but she was urged to contest his seat using her title "La'ulu" and was successful on her first attempt and entered Parliament in 1975 as the second woman to be elected to the Parliament. She represented the constituency of Lotofaga for two terms. In 1989 She was appointed Consul General to New Zealand by then Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana and promoted to High Commissioner to New Zealand in 1993 before her retirement in 1997. During her diplomatic terms she served as Dean of the Auckland Consular Corps- 1991–1992.
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