| Frantz Vanizette | |
| Office: | President of the Assembly of French Polynesia |
| Term Start: | 29 May 1981 |
| Term End: | 1 June 1982 |
| Predecessor: | John Teariki |
| Successor: | Émile Vernaudon |
| Term Start2: | 29 May 1979 |
| Term End2: | 30 May 1980 |
| Predecessor2: | John Teariki |
| Successor2: | John Teariki |
| Term Start3: | 7 June 1977 |
| Term End3: | 28 April 1978 |
| Predecessor3: | Gaston Flosse |
| Successor3: | John Teariki |
| Term Start4: | 5 June 1974 |
| Term End4: | 10 June 1976 |
| Predecessor4: | Gaston Flosse |
| Successor4: | Gaston Flosse |
| Term Start7: | 2 March 1961 |
| Term End7: | 6 November 1962 |
| Predecessor7: | Jacques Tauraa |
| Successor7: | Jacques Tauraa |
| Constituency Am11: | Windward Isles |
| Assembly11: | French Polynesian |
| Term Start11: | 3 November 1957 |
| Term End11: | 31 May 1982 |
| Birth Date: | 25 February 1927[1] |
| Birth Place: | Montendre, Charente-Maritime, France |
| Death Place: | Pirae, French Polynesia |
| Party: | Independent Tahitian Democratic Union Te Au Tahoeraa–Tomite Taufa |
Frantz Vanizette (25 February 1927 — 5 November 2001) was a French Polynesian politician who served five times as president of the Assembly of French Polynesia.
Vanizette was born in Montendre in the Charente-Maritime department of France.[1] After serving in the French Navy he moved to Tahiti where he worked as a secretary at the Chamber of Agriculture and married a sister of politician Jean-Baptiste Céran-Jérusalémy.[2] In 1952 he became general secretary of the Polynesian Federation of Trade unions (CFTC) and became head of the social insurance fund (CPF).[2]
He was first elected to the Assembly of French Polynesia as an independent in the 1957 French Polynesian legislative election. He opposed the government of Pouvanaa a Oopa, and advocated for its removal following the French riots against it.[2] He subsequently joined the Tahitian Democratic Union,[2] and was re-elected on its ticket in the 1962 elections. He was re-elected as an independent at the 1967 election.[3] In the leadup to the 1972 election he was a founder of the Te Au Tahoeraa–Tomite Taufa, which promoted limited autonomy within France.[4] He was re-elected.[5]
In June 1975 he was re-elected as President of the Assembly after forming a new majority with the backing of pro-autonomy parties.[6] In November 1975 the majority shifted again to favour the anti-autonomy Gaullist faction headed by Gaston Flosse.[7] When Flosse was in Paris, he called a meeting of the Assembly in the middle of the night to reject the government's proposal for increased integration with France and to call for new elections.[7] When the French government refused, pro-autonomy MPs and their supporters occupied the Assembly building, while Flosse's supporters formed their own Assembly and elected him president.[8] [9]
At the 1977 election Vanizette ran as part of the pro-autonomy United Front, which won a majority.[10] He was elected president of the Assembly[11] and re-elected twice more in the next five years, alternating with John Teariki. In 1981 he formed the Social Democratic Party with Maco Tevane, with which he contested the 1982 election.[2] After failing to be re-elected[12] he retired from political life.[2]
He died at Jean-Prince Hospital in Pirae in November 2001.[1]