Portal:Hawaii/Selected biography/3

Elizabeth Kaahumanu
Elizabeth Kaahumanu (March 17, 1768 – June 5, 1832) was queen regent of the Kingdom of Hawaii and a wife of Kamehameha I. She was the king's favorite wife and also the most politically powerful, and continued to wield considerable power in the kingdom as the kuhina nui or prime minister during the reigns of his successors.

Kaahumanu was born in a cave on the Hawaiian Island of Maui in 1768. Her parents were Keeaumoku, a fugitive alii or noble from the Big Island, and Namahana, the wife of the late king of Maui, Kamehameha Nui. Her father became an advisor and friend to Kamehameha of Hawaii, and arranged for Kaahumanu to marry him when she was thirteen. Kamehameha had numerous wives but Kaahumanu would become his favorite. It was she who encouraged her husband's war of unification of Hawaii. For the full article, click here.