Liliuokalani

Liliʻuokalani, Queen of Hawaii (September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917), formerly Lydia Kamakaʻeha, also known as Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, with her chosen royal name of Liliʻuokalani, and later Lydia K. Dominis, was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Early years

She was the fourth daughter, and eldest of women, of Grand Chiefs Caesar Kapaʻakea and Analea Keohokālole of Kauaʻi. Familiarly, she was called Lilino .

Its name means "The Conservation of the Skies".

Ascension to the throne

On September 16, 1862, she married John Owen Dominis, who would become governor of Oʻahu and Maui. They had no offspring; Liliʻuokalani's heir for many years was her niece Victoria Kaʻiulani (1875-1899), although Kaʻiulani predeceased her.

For almost an entire year (1881), the year in which her brother made a trip across the world as king (the first monarch to do so in the history of all world royalty), Liliʻuokalani performed the functions of Regent of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Liliʻuokalani inherited the throne from her brother Kalākaua on January 29, 1891. Shortly after coming to power, she attempted to repeal the current Bayonet Constitution and draft a new constitution that would return power to the monarchy.

The queen inaugurated the Liliʻuokalani Botanical Garden.

Conflict with foreign residents

The American and European subjects of the Kingdom of Hawaii, faced with the threat of the elimination of suffrage from the Constitution (suffrage that only allowed them to vote) proposed by the queen, affirmed that she had "virtually abdicated' 3. 4; by trying to subvert the constitution, so they planned to overthrow it. In addition to the threat of loss of suffrage, the kingdom's commercial interests were threatened by the elimination of foreign tariffs from the American sugar market, due to the McKinley Act, which, in effect, eliminated the privileged status of Hawaiian sugar based on the reciprocity agreement and contemplated the possibility of annexation to the United States (and thus enjoying the same benefits for sugar as national producers) as a favorable consequence to end the monarchy.

Overthrow and proclamation of the Republic

During the 1893 overthrow the American minister (ambassador) to Hawaii at the time, John L. Stevens, asked the ground troops of the U.S.S. Boston to protect American businesses and property. YE. The Queen was deposed on January 17, 1893, establishing a provisional government.

Grover Cleveland's government commissioned the Blount Report and based on its conclusions determined that the overthrow of Liliʻuokalani had been illegal, offering H.M. On November 16, 1893, he would return the throne if he granted amnesty to all those responsible. At first he refused, stating according to the chronicles that he would have them beheaded - although he denied that specific accusation, he did admit that he wanted them to suffer the punishment of death -. Faced with this development of events, the then president Grover Cleveland sent the document to the United States Congress.

Although she changed her mind on December 18, 1893, and the American Minister Willis asked the Provisional Government to rehabilitate her, they refused. Congress responded to Cleveland's recommendation with another investigation, which the United States Senate presented as the Morgan Report on February 26, 1894, in which it exonerated both Minister Stevens and the American troops of any responsibility in the overthrow. On July 4, 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was proclaimed, with Sanford Ballard Dole, one of the first to call for the abolition of the monarchical institution, as its president. The United States government immediately recognized it.

Imprisonment and final years

On January 16, 1895, Liliʻuokalani was arrested (days after the failed rebellion led by Robert Wilcox) when firearms were found in the gardens of her residence, a fact of which she denied knowledge. She was sentenced to five years of hard labor in prison and fined $5,000, but her sentence was commuted to confinement in one of the upper bedrooms of the ʻIolani Palace until her release in 1896 with the establishment of the Republic. from Hawaii.

When his attempts to regain the throne failed, he unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against the federal government for total property losses of $450,000, claiming crown lands in his personal capacity. Hawaii's territorial legislature ultimately voted to grant him an annual pension of $4,000 and allow him to collect rents from a 6,000-acre (24 km²) sugar plantation.

She settled in Washington Place, where she lived as an anonymous citizen until her death in 1917 from complications due to a stroke. As expected, Hawaii was annexed to the United States by a joint resolution of the US Congress in 1898.

Liliʻuokalani was a talented author and composer. Her book, Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, told the history of her country. Among her best-known musical compositions is the hymn & # 34; Aloha ʻOe & # 34; (also known as & # 34; Farewell to Thee & # 34;), which she composed during her house arrest.

With it the Hawaiian monarchy ended.

Patronages

He held the Honorary Presidency of various social interest entities, such as:

• Educative Society Lilimaduokalani (1886-1895).
• Society Fort-street.
• Society of Friends of Foreigners.
• Council of Missionary Women, etc.

She was patron of:

• Polynesia (based in New Zealand).

Honorary distinctions

Hawaiian honorary distinctions

• Medal of the Choice of King Kalākaua (12/02/1874).
• Lady Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I (04/02/1879).
• Lady Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Kalākaua I (04/02/1879).
• Lady Grand Cross the Royal Order of the Crown of Hawaii (12/02/1883).
• Medal of the Coronation of King Kalākaua (12/02/1883).
• Medal of the Jubilee of King Kalākaua (12/02/1884).
• Lady Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Star of Oceania (1887).
• Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Order of Kapimadolani (29/01/1891).

Foreign honorary distinctions

• Medal of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria (United Kingdom, 20/06/1887).
• Lady Grand Cord of the Order of the Precious Crown (Japanese Empire, 1890).

Ancestors

Predecessor: Kalākaua

Queen of Hawaii 1891 - 1893

Successor: President Sanford Ballard Dole (Finth of the Monarchy)

In popular culture

• The story of Lilimadalani inspired Paul Abraham to compose his opereta The flower of Hawaii (1931).
• Hawaiian actress Leo Anderson Akana played the queen in the film Princess Kaiulani (2009).
• Australian singer Kate Ceberano played the then princess heir in the film Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999) on the life of Father Damián.

Numerous places were named in his honor:

• "Queen Lilimadalani", an old Boeing 737-297 from the airline Aloha AirlinesNumber N73711.
• "Queen Lilimadalani Center for Studies Services", a building at the University of Hawaii, on the Manoa campus.
• "Liliuokalani Botanical Garden", a botanical garden.
• "Liliuokalani Park and Gardens", a park with its gardens.
• "Queen Lilimadalani Freeway," a highway.
• "Queen Lydia Liliḳuokalani Elementary School", a school in Kaimuki, Hawaii, founded in 1912 and closed in 2011.
• "Queen Liliλuokalani Children's Center", a private foundation dedicated to the well-being of orphaned children.