{{short description|Samoan politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata = ALL|children=6,<ref>Laracy, Hugh. 'Nelson, Olaf Frederick 1883 - 1944'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 7 April 2006 [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=4N5 Hugh Laracy profile], ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'']. Accessed 26 March 2024.</ref> including Olive Virginia Malienafau }}thumb| Nelson residence in Tuaefu, around 1936 [[File:Central Bank of Samoa (2009).jpg|thumb|left|The Clock Tower in Apia, a gift from the Nelson Family.]] '''Ta'isi Olaf Frederick Nelson''' (24 February 1883 – 28 February 1944) was a Samoan businessman and politician. He was one of the founding leaders of the anti-colonial Mau movement.<ref name="PIM34-5">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(10) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= O. F. Nelson of Samoa |date = 17 May 1934|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310968787/view?partId=nla.obj-310980033#page/n27/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref><ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Pedersen |first=Susan | author-link = Susan Pedersen (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tu2kCQAAQBAJ |title=The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-957048-5 |pages=169–192 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570485.001.0001}}</ref>
==Biography== Nelson was born on 24 February 1883 in Safune on the island of Savai'i to Swedish trader August Nelson and his Samoan wife, Sina Tugaga, whose family had links to the Sa Tupua, a prominent chiefly family.<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of the Pacific Islands–Kingdoms of the Reefs|author=Deryck Scarr|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|year=1990|isbn=978-0-7329-0210-0|page=265}}</ref> His name '''Ta'isi''' is a ''matai'' chief title from his mother's family from the Savai'i village of Asau. Nelson grew up in the family's home village of Faleolo until the age of eight, when he was sent to the Marist Brothers School in Apia. He left the school at the age of thirteen and became an apprentice at the DH & PG firm.<ref name="PIM44-6">{{cite web| last =| first = | work= XIV(11) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Samoan Patriot|date =19 June 1944|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-315148632/view?partId=nla.obj-315157184#page/n11/mode/1up| accessdate=28 September 2021}}</ref> He worked at DH & PH for four years, during which time he founded Samoa's first brass band.<ref name="PIM44-6"/>
After leaving DH & PG, Nelson returned to Savai'i and took over his father's business,<ref name="PIM44-6"/> which had started in 1895 under the name - Nelson and Robertson Limited.<ref name="PIM45-2">{{cite web| last =| first = | work= XV(7) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Late – Fifty Years Old – Nelson & Robertson Ltd|date =17 February 1945|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-315176323/view?partId=nla.obj-315196451#page/n8/mode/1up| accessdate=28 September 2021}}</ref> He expanded his father's copra trading business throughout the islands, and by the time he was thirty-five, Nelson was one of the wealthiest members of the Apia community. He was influential in both the Samoan and European communities.
Under German rule, the colonial administrators treated Nelson as an equal, but after New Zealand seized control in 1914, Nelson was excluded and alienated by the new government. Despite being elected to the Legislative Council in 1924, he could do little as he and the other elected members were constantly overruled by the more numerous government appointees. This treatment turned Nelson into one of the major forces in the Samoan independence movement, known as the Mau.
In May 1927 Nelson founded a newspaper, the ''Samoa Guardian'', to support its claims. In response to his growing public dissent, the New Zealand administration tried to brand Nelson as unscrupulous and a trouble maker.<ref name="PIM31">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= II(10) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Western Samoa – A Continuing Disappointment |date = 19 May 1932|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310873141/view?partId=nla.obj-310889001#page/n5/mode/1up| accessdate=26 September 2021}}</ref> The colonial administration's desperation to silence Nelson led them to exile him in January 1928, along with two other part-European members of the Mau.<ref name="PIM32">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= III(3) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Pig-Headed New Zealand and Stubborn Samoa |date = 19 October 1932|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-311008548/view?partId=nla.obj-311022583#page/n4/mode/1up| accessdate=26 September 2021}}</ref> During his five years of exile, Nelson took his protests as far as the League of Nations in Geneva. He returned to Samoa in May 1933,<ref name="PIM1933">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= III(11) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Exile Returns |date = 24 June 1933|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-311143690/view?partId=nla.obj-311156304#page/n34/mode/1up| accessdate=26 September 2021}}</ref> and continued his advocacy.<ref name="PIM1933-2">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(1) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Is it Stalemate in Samoa? |date = 22 August 1933|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310912829/view?partId=nla.obj-310916530#page/n6/mode/1up| accessdate=26 September 2021}}</ref> General Hart, the New Zealand administrator, demanded that Nelson be excluded from any meeting (fono) with the leadership of the Mau.<ref name="PIM1933-4">{{cite web| work= IV(2) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= The Deadlock in Samoa|date = 20 September 1933|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310913018/view?partId=nla.obj-310927423#page/n36/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="PIM1933-6">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(3) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Mau Defies General Hart - Stalemate Continues in Samoa |date = 24 September 1933|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310918876/view?partId=nla.obj-310933054#page/n26/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> The Mau insistence that Nelson should be one of its delegates. General Hart ordered police raids on the Mau's headquarters at Vaimoso and Nelson's residence at Tuaefu, which occurred on 15 November 1933.<ref name="PIM33-12">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(5) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Stern Action by N.Z. Ends Samoan Deadlock |date = 21 December 1933|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310934486/view?partId=nla.obj-310943546#page/n0/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> Eight Samoan chiefs, leaders of the Mau, who were members of a conference of 100 assembled at Tuatuanu’u were arrested on charges of collecting monies for unlawful purposes and engaging in Mau activities.<ref name="PIM1933-8">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(4) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Police Act – Arrests and Raids in Western Samoa |date = 22 November 1933|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310926673/view?partId=nla.obj-310938283#page/n13/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="PIM1933-12">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(5) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Suppression of the Mau |date = 21 December 1933|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310934486/view?partId=nla.obj-310943546#page/n0/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> A week later a further 7 chiefs were arrested at Savaii.<ref name="PIM33-12"/>
Six months after his return to Samoa, Nelson was convicted of 3 charges of being connected to the Mau, for which he was sentenced to ten additional years in exile as well as eight months imprisonment in New Zealand.<ref name="PIM34-3">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(8) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Banished For Ten Years |date = 16 March 1934|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310954487/view?partId=nla.obj-310962793| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="PIM34-4">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(9) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= O. F. Nelson to Appeal – His Treatment in N.Z. Arouses Protest |date = 29 April 1934|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310962260/view?partId=nla.obj-310974625#page/n41/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> His appeal to the Full Court of the New Zealand Supreme Court quashed the sentence of imprisonment but upheld the ten years of exile.<ref name="PIM34-12">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IV(12) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= O. F. Nelson – Banishment Stands: Goal Sentence Quashed |date =19 July 1934|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-310983534/view?partId=nla.obj-310994224#page/n5/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> The Privy Council in London rejected his appeal.<ref name="PIM35-5">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= V(10) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Mr. O. F. Nelson's Exile From Samoa – English Privy Council Refuses Appeal|date =21 May 1935|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-311612023/view?partId=nla.obj-311632214#page/n11/mode/1up| accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> However, his exile was cut short in 1936, after Labour won the New Zealand general election in 1935. He returned to Samoa on 22 July 1936,<ref name="PIM36-1">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= VII(1) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Mr Nelson Returns to Samoa|date =19 August 1936|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-312525093/view?partId=nla.obj-312529469#page/n7/mode/1up| accessdate=28 September 2021}}</ref> and helped in the signing of the co-operation agreement between Samoan leaders and the New Zealand administration. He was subsequently elected to the Legislative Council in 1938,<ref name="PIM38-12">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= IX(5) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= O. F. Nelson Tops The Poll|date =15 December 1938|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-314564763/view?partId=nla.obj-314595917#page/n6/mode/1up| accessdate=28 September 2021}}</ref> and re-elected in 1941.
Nelson died in 1944,<ref name="PIM44-4">{{cite web| last = | first = | work= XIV(8) Pacific Islands Monthly |title= Death of Mr. O. R. Nelson|date =20 March 1944|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-315043347/view?partId=nla.obj-315067386#page/n13/mode/1up| accessdate=28 September 2021}}</ref> and it was not until 1962 that his dream of Samoan independence was realised.
==Legacy== Ta'isi had six daughters. Viopapa Lucy, Irene Gustave Noue, Olive Nelson (Malienafau), Joyce Rosabel Piliopo, Sina Hope and Calmar Josephine Taufau,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mlcsyd.nsw.edu.au/articledocuments/251/nelson_mlc%20school%20family%20tree.pdf.aspx |title=NELSON SISTERS :: MLC SCHOOL FAMILY TREE |publisher=MLC School |access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref> and one son, Ta'isi who died as a result of the influenza epidemic in 1919 aged 4.<ref name=":0">See O'Brien, Tautai</ref> Malienafau was the first Pacific Island graduate of the University of Auckland, graduating with a law degree in 1936.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/news-2008/2008/10/29/125th-Pacific-Ball.html|title=125th Pacific Ball - The University of Auckland|website=www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz|access-date=2017-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123044451/https://www.alumni.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/news-2008/2008/10/29/125th-Pacific-Ball.html|archive-date=2019-01-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Ta'isi's daughter Noue went on to marry Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole, who became Joint Head of State when Samoa attained Independence in 1962. They sired Olf "Efi" Nelson who went on to become Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Ta'isi Efi, the third Prime Minister of Samoa and from 2007 to 2017, the Head of State of Samoa.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/two-men-make-history-in-samoa-photos/AJ7QLJSZEDKI6GIJMMC6PUQHXM/ |title=Two men make history in Samoa (+photos) |publisher=New Zealand Herald |date=20 June 2007 |access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref> His other grandson Misa Telefoni Retzlaff (Hermann Theodor Retzlaff) was in parliament from 1988 to 2011, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa from 2001 to 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/19026|title=Misa becomes new Minister of Finance |publisher=Samoa Observer |date=20 March 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919185059/https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/article/19026 |archive-date=19 September 2020}}</ref> Retzlaff's son is Lemalu Herman Retzlaff (Taisi's great-grandson), who was appointed Attorney General of Samoa in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://samoaglobalnews.com/samoa-ag-resigns-from-post/ |title=Samoa Attorney General Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff Resigns |publisher=Samoa Global News |date=14 February 2020 |access-date=27 March 2024}}</ref>
Ta-isi's grand-daughter is Dr Viopapa Annandale–Atherton.<ref name=":0" /> In 1964, she was the first Samoan woman to graduate in medicine from the University of Otago and has committed her career to improving the health and welfare of women and children in the Pacific Islands.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=A woman of the Pacific|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/otagomagazine/issue50/profiles/otago734685.html|access-date=2021-10-12|website=www.otago.ac.nz|date=15 April 2020|language=en-nz}}</ref>
The Nelson Memorial Public Library was donated to the Samoan people by the Nelson Family in Ta'isi's memory.<ref name=lib>{{cite web |url=http://www.las.org.ws/AboutUs/LibraryHistory/tabid/4390/language/en-NZ/Default.aspx |work=Library Association of Samoa |title=History of Libraries in Samoa |accessdate=6 June 2010 |archive-date=27 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127011408/http://www.las.org.ws/AboutUs/LibraryHistory/tabid/4390/language/en-NZ/Default.aspx |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * O'Brien, Patricia. Tautai: Sāmoa, World History and the Life of Ta'isi O. F. Nelson (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2017) * O'Brien, Patricia. [http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjph20/current#.VDdbMl7rPG4 "Ta'isi O. F. Nelson and Sir Maui Pomare: Samoans and Maori Reunited", Journal of Pacific History, 49:1 2014] * Wendt, Albert. [https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WenGua-c13-1.html ''Guardians and Wards'' (A study of the origins, causes, and the first two years of the Mau in Western Samoa.)], New Zealand Electronic Text Centre. Accessed 26 March 2024.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Olaf Frederick}} Category:20th-century Samoan businesspeople Category:Samoan chiefs Category:Samoan exiles Category:1883 births Category:1944 deaths Category:20th-century owners of plantations Category:Western Samoa Trust Territory people Category:Prisoners and detainees of New Zealand Category:Samoan prisoners and detainees Category:Samoan people of Swedish descent Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Samoa Category:1910s in Samoa Category:1920s in Western Samoa Trust Territory Category:1930s in Western Samoa Trust Territory Category:1940s in Western Samoa Trust Territory Category:Samoan independence activists Category:20th-century farmers Category:20th-century landowners