Pouvana'a a Oopa Tetuaapua

Memorial stone for Pouvana'a a Oopa in the Tahitian capital Papeete

Pouvana'a a Oopa Tetuaapua (born May 10, 1895 in Huahine on the Society Islands , † January 10, 1977 in Tahiti ) was a politician in French Polynesia .

Oopa is considered the pioneer of the Front de liberation de la Polynésie , which was founded shortly after his death by Oscar Temaru and is now considered by his political successors as "père du nationalisme tahitien" and "Metua" (father of the nation).

He left school before he was ten. He was raised Protestant and grew up in a religious milieu, whereby the study of the Bible was formative for his later, remarkable rhetorical dexterity. In January 1918 he left his homeland and joined the infantry unit BMP (Bataillon mixte du Pacifique) in metropolitan France in order to take part in the First World War .

After the Second World War he founded the political association Comité Pouvanaa , which called for profound changes in the Franco-Ocean relationship. In July 1947 he was charged, among other things, with "conspiracy against state security".

When he was elected member of parliament in October 1947, he founded the Rassemblement des populations tahitiennes (RDPT) party, which played a decisive role in shaping local politics in French Polynesia until 1958 and was sometimes viewed as a hidden communist party. Without openly demanding independence, the goals of the RDPT were the autonomy of France and the fight against its capitalists. Supported by trade unions, Oopa was re-elected twice, in 1951 with 72% in 1956 with 58% of the vote. In December 1957 he was elected Vice-President of the newly formed French Polynesia Governing Council.

Before the referendum on September 28, 1958, Oopa campaigns for an autonomous state of Polynesia. However, 68% of those entitled to vote voted for the territory to remain with France. On October 11th, Oopa was accused of attempting arson in Papeete with the help of partisans. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and not to enter Polynesia for 15 years. On February 12, 1960, he was removed from his parliamentary mandate. Pardoned, he returned to Tahiti in November 1968.

In 1971 he was elected senator. In the Senate, he became a member of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and of the Groupe de l'Union Centriste des Démocrates de Progrès . Until his death in 1977 he held the post of senator.