Sir Peter Kenilorea

Who is Sir Peter Kenilorea?

Sir Peter Kenilorea was a Solomon Islands politician and statesman who served as the country's first prime minister after independence and is widely regarded as the founding father of the modern Solomon Islands. Born on 23 May 1943 in Takataka village on Malaita, of 'Are'are ethnicity, he trained as a teacher in New Zealand, attending Wesley College, Whanganui Collegiate School, and Ardmore Teachers College, before returning home to work as a schoolteacher. He rose to become chief minister of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate during the final years of colonial administration and led the negotiations in London that secured independence from Britain, granted on 7 July 1978, when he became prime minister at only thirty-five years old. He served as prime minister from 1978 to 1981 and again from 1984 to 1986, and later held the posts of minister of foreign affairs and, from 2001 to 2010, Speaker of the National Parliament. Kenilorea recorded his life and the country's path to nationhood in his autobiography, Tell It As It Is. He died on 24 February 2016.

Sources: Peter Kenilorea — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) · Peter Kenilorea — Encyclopaedia Britannica (britannica.com) · Peter Kenilorea with Clive Moore, Tell It As It Is: Autobiography of Rt. Hon. Sir Peter Kenilorea, KBE, PC, Solomon Islands' First Prime Minister (Institute of Pacific Studies, 2008)