Tamatoa V

Who was Tamatoa V?

Tamatoa V, born Tamatoa-a-tu Pōmare, King of Raiatea and Tahaa, was a son of Queen Pōmare IV of Tahiti. Adopted by Tamatoa IV King of Raiatea and Tahaa, he succeeded him on 19 August 1857 and crowned at Opoa by The Rev. Platt, 1 December 1860. Deposed in 1871. He married to Moe Ma-hea-nu'u-a-Mai and had one son and five daughters. He died at Pape'ete, 30 September 1881. He was succeeded by Tahitoe I, a member of the cadet branch of the Tamatoa Royal Family.

Friedrich Ratzel in The History of Mankind reported that Tamatoa, the chief of Raiatea, was revered as a deity while he was still alive. When George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke visited the islands with Dr. George Henry Kingsley in 1870, he was stricken by his wife's charm and beauty and referred to the king and queen as "Beauty and the Beast."