Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata

Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata was a soldier, iwi leader and politician from Ngāti Porou whom was also the first Māori to graduate with a university degree. He was an active member in parliament from 1905 to 1943 and was also the Minister of Māori Affairs from 1928 to 1934. He was the son of Paratene Ngata and Katerina Naki. In 1895, he married Arihia Kane Ngata and together they had 11 children which survived to adulthood.

He was a student at Te Aute College alongside Sir Mauī Pōmare and Sir Peter Buck, during his time at Te Aute he was awarded Makarini Scholar in 1885-1886 and in 1889-1890. In 1893, he gained his B.A. degree in politics at Canterbury College. Three years later he obtained a law degree and a year later he obtained his M.A. with honours. By the time he was 22 years old, he held both a Master of Arts and Bachelor of politics and a law degree, he worked for a brief time as a lawyer before he became active in the nationalist Young Māori Party. In 1905, Ngata was elected to Parliament to represent Eastern Māori in which he retained his seat until 1943. Whilst he was still an MP, Ngata also was a soldier during World War 1 alongside MP Sir Peter Buck. Together with Sir Mauī Pōmare they both gathered volunteers and encouraged Māori to join and fight in World War 1 and 2.

In 1927, Ngata received a knighthood, and in the following year he became the Native Minister of the United government.

Notably, he co-wrote Ngā moteatea alongside another prominent Māori scholar Dr Pei Te Hurinui Jones. This book illustrated Ngata's various collected and recorded traditional Māori songs and chants from iwi of Aotearoa. The book was translated by Dr Pei Te Hurinui Jones and later Hirini Moko Mead. Ngata also features heavily in both Dr Pei Te Hurinui Jones and Dr Maharaia Winata's collection held at the University of Waikato.

Sir Āpirana Ngata is commemorated for his services to the country and as one of the leading figures of his time through his portrait depicted on the New Zealand 50 dollar note.

Biographical information compiled and written by Ngaki Te Kare - Ruaine