Futa Helu
| ʻIlaisa Futa-ʻi-Haʻangana Helu | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 June 1934 |
| Died | 2 February 2010 (aged 75) |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
|
Main interests
|
Political philosophy, Ethics |
Futa Helu (17 June 1934 – 2 February 2010) was a Tongan philosopher, historian, and educator. He studied philosophy under the Australian empiricist John Anderson and in 1963 launched an educational institute named ‘Atenisi (Tongan for Athens, to pay homage to the ancient Greek philosophers, Herakleitos in particular). The institute began as a continuing education programme for civil servants, then initiated a high school in 1964 and a university in 1975.
Helu was born on 17 June 1934 in the village of Lotofoa on the island of Foa in the Haʻapai archipelago in the (Polynesian) Kingdom of Tonga. Helu, in fact, is a minor chiefly title, carrying the task of managing both the people and land of the village. In Haʻapai, Futa was a bright, although headstrong, student. In 1947 he was selected to be part of the founding class of the newly established Tonga high school sited in Tonga's capital, the school being a project of a promising Crown Prince who would accede to the throne as Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV in 1967.
Helu studied in Australia at Newington College (1953–1956) and the University of Sydney (1957–60). At Sydney he focused on philosophy, English literature, mathematics and physics. Back in Tonga in April 1961 he did not become – as one might have expected – a government bureaucrat, but held himself out as tutor to those having trouble keeping up at school. His way of teaching soon became famous, and many Tongans who are now important figures claim he instilled a love of learning that impelled their careers.
ʻAtenisi Institute was initially a downtown night school providing continuing education for civil servants, evolving into a daytime secondary school in 1964. In 1966 Helu registered ʻAtenisi's high school with the government and at the end of that year leased a 6.5-hectare (16-acre) parcel in Tufuenga, a western district in the Tongan capital of Nukuʻalofa. The parcel is, in fact, below sea level and students often speak of the swampus instead of the campus. At the end of 1975 a small university joined the high school on the site, its first bachelor of arts degrees being awarded in 1980, followed a few years later by bachelor of science degrees. By the 1990s, some Master of Arts degrees – and even a PhD degree – were awarded in collaboration with universities in Australia and New Zealand.
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