Sosefo Makapé Papilio

Soséfo Makapé Papilio (27 February 1928 – 5 April 1998) was a Futunan politician who served as President of the Territorial Assembly of Wallis and Futuna from 1967 to 1971 and as a member of the French Senate for Wallis and Futuna from 1971 until his death in 1998. Biography Papilio was born on 27 February 1928 in Alo, Wallis and Futuna. His father, Talae Papilio, was a king of Alo. He studied at the Lano seminary and later volunteered for the French Army in 1949, serving in New Caledonia and receiving a promotion to sergeant in 1951, which made him the first non-commissioned officer in the French Army from Wallis and Futuna. He was discharged in 1956, having received the rank of sergeant major, and then began working in the trade business in Wallis and Futuna. He was also the president for the Association of Former Soldiers and Combatants of Wallis and Futuna starting in 1965.

After his discharge, Papilio also entered politics. He served as a member of the Wallis and Futuna board of directors from 1958 to 1961, then was re-elected in 1967 and 1972. He attended the South Pacific Conference in 1959 and 1962 and then was elected to the Territorial Assembly of Wallis and Futuna in 1962, later serving as its president from 1967 to 1971. He remained a member of the territorial assembly until 1990, except from 1977 to 1982. He was aged 70 at the time of his death. With a tenure of 27 years, he remains the longest-serving Senator in his territory's history.