Misa Telefoni Retzlaff | |
Office1: | Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa |
Term Start1: | 19 March 2001 |
Term End1: | 20 March 2011 |
Primeminister1: | Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi |
Predecessor1: | Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi (1998) |
Successor1: | Fonotoe Pierre Lauofo |
Office2: | Minister of Trade, Commerce, Industry and Labour |
Term Start2: | 24 April 2006 |
Term End2: | 20 March 2011 |
Predecessor2: | Hans Joachim Keil III |
Successor2: | Fonotoe Pierre Lauofo |
Office3: | Minister of Tourism |
Term Start3: | 24 April 2006 |
Term End3: | 20 March 2011 |
Predecessor3: | Hans Joachim Keil III |
Successor3: | Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi |
Office4: | Minister of Finance |
Term Start4: | 20 March 2001 |
Term End4: | 19 March 2006 |
Successor4: | Tapunuu Niko Lee Hang |
Office5: | Minister of Health |
Term Start5: | 26 April 1996 |
Term End5: | 20 March 2001 |
Predecessor5: | Sala Vaimili Uili II |
Successor5: | Mulitalo Siafausa Vui |
Constituency Mp10: | Falelatai & Samatau |
Parliament10: | Samoan |
Term Start10: | 26 February 1988 |
Term End10: | 4 March 2011 |
Predecessor10: | Lupematasila Fa'amalaga |
Successor10: | Lemi Taefu |
Birth Name: | Hermann Theodor Retzlaff |
Birth Place: | Apia, Western Samoa Trust Territory (Now Samoa) |
Spouse: | Sarah Pulepule Young |
Party: | Human Rights Protection Party |
Alma Mater: | University of Auckland |
Nationality: | Samoan |
Misa Telefoni Retzlaff (born Hermann Theodor Retzlaff, 21 May 1952) is a Samoan author and retired politician who served as the deputy prime minister of Samoa and deputy leader of the Human Rights Protection Party from 2001 to 2011. A member of the Human Rights Protection Party, Retzlaff was also minister of finance from 2006 to 2011.
Retzlaff is of German-Swedish-Samoan descent, having inherited his German ancestry from his paternal grandfather.[1] His name "Telefoni", is the name that was given by the Samoan community in the early twentieth century, to his grandfather, when he arrived in the German colony, as a public servant of the postal services, to introduce the telephone to the country. He was educated at Marist Brothers in Apia and King's College in Auckland, New Zealand.[2] He studied law at the University of Auckland, graduating in 1974. After returning to Samoa, he studied to become a Certified Public Accountant, graduating in 1977, before going on to practice law.[2] He was appointed Attorney-General of Samoa in 1986.[3] His eldest son Lemalu Herman Retzlaff was subsequently appointed and also served as Attorney General of Samoa in 2016.
In 1988 he resigned his position as Attorney-general to run for election, winning the seat of Falelatai & Samatau.[4] Initially part of the opposition, he joined the government of Tofilau Eti Alesana in 1991 as Minister of Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries and Shipping.[2] In 1996 he became Minister of Health, and in 2001, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.[5] [6] In 2006 he was appointed Minister of Tourism, Trade, Labor and Commerce.[7] He retired at the 2011 general election.[8] [9]
Retzlaff has had two books published; "Love and Money", a love story about the richest young bachelor in Auckland New Zealand falling in love with and marrying the young Samoan kitchen help from his exclusive boarding school; and "To Thine Own Self be True", a collection of articles, speeches and poems.[3] In 2021 he published an autobiography, Tautua – Memoirs of a Public Servant.[10]