Tongan Cultural Giant – Futa Helu – Dies
Tongan cultural giant, Professor Futa Helu has died at the Vaiola Hospital in Tonga, aged 75. Renowned for his profound knowledge of traditional Tongan cultural expressions, Professor Helu was at the forefront of intellectual thinking about education and the arts in the Pacific. As a young man, Futa Helu studied at the Newington College in New South Wales and then attended Sydney University where he studied philosophy, English literature, mathematics and physics. Back in Tonga, he founded Atenisi University, an institution that championed innovative and critical thinking and which grew from a night school into a university that now confers Masters and PhD degrees. He was the author of several ground-breaking articles most of which were published in Critical Essays: Cultural Perspectives from the South Seas (Journal of Pacific History, 1999). Paying tribute to him, the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, Dr. Colin Tukuitonga said “He was truly one of the great academic giants of the South Pacific and our condolences go out to his children and grandchildren.”
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 4:18 pm and is filed under Dance, Music, Traditional.
