{{Short description|Samoan lawyer (1911–1970)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} '''Olive Virginia Malienafau Nelson''' (17 August 1911 – 18 March 1970)<ref>[https://billiongraves.com/grave/Olive-Virginia-Malienafau-Nelson-Betham/17842785 Olive Virginia Malienafau Nelson Betham] Billion Graves</ref> was the first Pacific Island graduate of the University of Auckland.<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=23 September 2017|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=23 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Nelson was born in Samoa, the daughter of Olaf Nelson, a political leader in Western Samoa, and Rosabel Moors. She had five sisters and one brother, although her brother died of influenza in the 1918 epidemic.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thecoconet.tv/coco-talanoa/blog/tautai-samoa-world-history-and-the-life-of/|title=Tautai: Sāmoa, World History, and the Life of Ta’isi O. F. Nelson — Coconet|access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WenGua-c13-1.html|title=OLAF FREDERICK NELSON {{!}} NZETC|website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz|access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref> In 1919 the six sisters were sent to New Zealand to study at an exclusive school in Remuera.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Samoans: A Global Family|last=Koehler Sutter|first=Frederic|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=1989|pages=161}}</ref>
In 1931 Nelson received the Butterworth Prize for the highest law exam results in the university. In 1933 she travelled to Samoa with her sisters and father, and then returned to Auckland to continue her studies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/olaf-nelson-and-place-afakasi-samoa|title=Olaf Nelson and the place of afakasi in Samoa {{!}} NZHistory, New Zealand history online|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|language=en|access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref> Nelson completed her law degree in 1936 and was admitted to the bar the same year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/university18.html|title=NZ University Graduates 1870–1961|website=shadowsoftime.co.nz|access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref> Following her graduation, she returned to Samoa and became the country's first female barrister and solicitor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fmhs.auckland.ac.nz/assets/fmhs/soph/pacifichealth/docs/talaga01092009.pdf|title=Early traces of Pacific students at The University of Auckland|date=September 2009|access-date=23 September 2017|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924001554/https://www.fmhs.auckland.ac.nz/assets/fmhs/soph/pacifichealth/docs/talaga01092009.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.samoaobserver.ws/en/27_07_2018/local/35392/Olive-Nelson-a-pioneering-Samoan-woman.htm|title=Olive Nelson, a pioneering Samoan woman|website=Samoa Observer|access-date=2019-01-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/central/for/the-media/publications/university-news/2018-issues/uninews-suffrage-125-2018-v3.pdf|title=What distance travelled?|date=September 2018|website=Uni NEWS}}</ref>
In 1939 she won the Western Samoan mixed doubles tennis championship with future Minister of Finance Fred Betham,<ref>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-315310070/view?sectionId=nla.obj-329436271&partId=nla.obj-315349698#page/n58/mode/1up Mr G.F. Betham] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1939, p57</ref> who she went on to marry in 1942.<ref name=PIM1>[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-312963035/view?sectionId=nla.obj-328770809&partId=nla.obj-312973107#page/n32/mode/1up Marriage of well-known Apia couple] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', December 1942, p33</ref> She died in 1970.<ref>{{Cite book|title=South Pacific Bulletin, Volume 21|publisher=South Pacific Commission|year=1971|pages=19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Final Approaches: A Memoir|last=Hensley|first=Gerald|publisher=Auckland University Press|year=2013|location=Auckland, New Zealand}}</ref>
==See also== *List of first women lawyers and judges in Oceania
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Olive}} Category:University of Auckland alumni Category:Samoan lawyers Category:1911 births Category:1970 deaths Category:20th-century women lawyers
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