Jacob Helg

Samoan politician
Jacob Helg
Member of the Legislative Assembly
In office
1948–1954
Personal details
Born30 July 1894
Utumapu, Samoa

Jacob Helg (born 30 July 1894) was a Western Samoan politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1948 to 1954.

Biography

Helg was born in Utumapu in 1894, the son of Swiss immigrant Johannes Helg and a Samoan mother.[1][2] He was educated at the Marist Brothers School in Apia,[1] and later become president of the Samoan branch of the Marist Old Boys Union.[3] He married Augustina in 1920, with whom he had six children.[1] He worked for O.F. Nelson & Co from 1918 to 1934 and then I.H. Carruthers until 1940.[1] After working as the stores manager for the New Zealand Reparations Estates from 1940 to 1948,[1] he became manager of the Mulifauna Trading Company.[4]

Following the creation of the Legislative Assembly in 1948, he contested the European seats in the first elections as a member of the United Citizens Party, and was elected in second place.[5] He was re-elected in 1951 (in fifth place), and in 1953 was part of the Western Samoan delegation to New Zealand for the visit of the new Queen Elizabeth II.[6] He lost his seat in the 1954 elections, when he was placed sixth.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Who's who in New Zealand, Volume 5, p107
  2. ^ Former Samoan planters' death in Switzerland Pacific Islands Monthly, January 1936, p75
  3. ^ Mr. J. Helg Pacific Islands Monthly, May 1938, p31
  4. ^ Death of Mrs. L. Glover of Apia Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1947, p11
  5. ^ Samoa's new Assembly Pacific Islands Monthly, May 1948, p7
  6. ^ Island Leaders in NZ for Royal Visit Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1953, p15