Malietoa Tanumafili II

Malietoa Tanumafili II

Malietoa Tanumafili II, GCMG, CBE, (January 4, 1913 – May 11, 2007) (also called Susuga) was the Malietoa, the title of one of Samoa's four paramount chiefs, and the head of state, or O le Ao o le Malo, a position that he held for life, of Samoa from 1962 to 2007.

Malietoa Tanumafili II was a Bahá’í. He was the second royal (after Queen Marie of Romania) to join the Faith. The House of Worship in Tiapapata, eight kilometers from the country's capital of Apia, was dedicated by him in 1984.

The Universal House of Justice wrote upon his passing: "His service to the people of Samoa as Head of State was distinguished by the high principles, genuine compassion and personal humility that characterized the constancy of his concern for the welfare of all. As the first reigning sovereign to accept the Message of Bahá’u’lláh, he set a record that will forever illumine the annals of our Faith, one that future generations will increasingly extol. His great interest for well-nigh four decades in the Faith's progress was reflected in the enthusiastic affirmation of his belief whenever the opportunity presented itself and in the abiding joy with which he regarded the construction in 1984 of the Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands in Samoa...."

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