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Tun Fuad Stephens

Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun
Muhammad Fuad Stephens
Tun Fuad Stephens.jpg
1st Chief Minister of Sabah
In office
16 September 1963 – 31 December 1964
Preceded by None
Succeeded by Peter Lo Sui Yin
5th Chief Minister of Sabah
In office
18 April 1976 – 6 June 1976
Preceded by Mustapha Harun
Succeeded by Harris Salleh
3rd Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah
In office
16 September 1973 – 28 July 1975
Preceded by Pengiran Ahmad Raffae
Succeeded by Mohd Hamdan Abdullah
Personal details
Born Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens
(1920-09-14)14 September 1920
Kudat, British North Borneo
Died 6 June 1976(1976-06-06) (aged 55)
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Political party United National Kadazan Organisation, BERJAYA
Spouse(s) Ida (married 1950; widowed 1957)
Hajah Rahimah (Cecilia June Lutter)
Children Johari (John Benedict; adopted–1952–1976)
Affendi (Richard Bernard; 1958–2009)
Asgari (James Denis; born 1960)
Faridah (Jean Heather; born 1962)
Fauziah (Elma; born 1964)
Mother Edith Cope (1898–1976)
Father Jules Pavitt Stephens (1896–1944)
Religion Roman Catholic (1920–1970)
Sunni Islam (1971–1976)

Tun Muhammad Fuad Stephens, (born Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens; 14 September 1920 – 6 June 1976) was the first Chief Minister of the state of Sabah in Malaysia, and the first Huguan Siou or Paramount Leader of the Kadazandusun community. He played a fundamental role in bringing the state of Sabah into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. He held the chief minister post until 1964, and again in 1976. During his second term as Chief Minister he died in a controversial accident on 6 June 1976, in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah. He was a passenger in an Australian made Nomad aircraft which crashed and killed everyone on board. His body was buried at the State Mausoleum near the Sabah State Mosque, Kota Kinabalu.

Stephens was born on 14 September 1920 in Kudat. His father, Jules Stephen Pavitt later known as Jules Pavitt Stephens, was half Kadazan and half British hailing from Papar district in the West Coast Division with paternal roots in Essex, England, while his mother Edith Cope was ethnically half Japanese, half British and a quarter Dusun originating from the district of Kinabatangan, Sandakan Division. Stephens had 5 siblings; 2 younger sisters and 3 younger brothers. Two of them, John and Martin died in infancy. A third, Leo Benedict was born in 1926, later became the President of the Dewan Negara between 1985–1988.

Donald Stephens founded the political party United National Kadazan Organisation (UNKO) in August 1961. He played a key role in negotiating the independence of Sabah and the formation of Malaysia, together with Tun Mustapha of United Sabah National Organisation (USNO), and Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Prime Minister of Malaya. The formation of Malaysia was finally achieved on 16 September 1963, which is today known as Malaysia Day. He became Sabah's first Chief Minister.


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