Hugh Kāwharu

Sir Ian Hugh Kāwharu (born Ian Hugh Paora; 18 February 1927 – 19 September 2006) was an academic and paramount chief of the Ngāti Whātua Māori tribe in New Zealand.

Biography Hugh was born to parents Janet née Anderson, an English physiotherapist, and Wiremu Paora and christened Ian Hugh Paora. While a child, his surname was changed from Paora to Kāwharu, in remembrance of his paternal great-grandfather Paora Kawharu (Hugh's grandfather had the patronym Hauraki Paora). In 1992, he was awarded the Elsdon Best Memorial Medal by the Polynesian Society, and in 1994 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Kāwharu was appointed to the Order of New Zealand.

He was patron of the Pitt Rivers Museum and an honorary Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.

Kāwharu authored the book, Māori Land Tenure: Studies of a changing institution, published in 1977, and was selected as one of the 180 most significant works of Māori-authored non-fiction.

Kāwharu died in Auckland in 2006. Merata Kawharu and Amokura Kawharu are two of his daughters.

Works