Tonga - Famous tongans

King George Tupou I (Taufa'ahu Tupou, 1797–1893) ruled for 48 years; during his reign, Tonga became a Christian nation, abolished serfdom, and acquired a constitution. His prime minister, Shirley Waldemar Baker (1831–1903), was a Wesleyan clergyman who, after being deposed in 1890, became an Episcopal minister and then returned to Tonga. The most famous Tongan of this century was Queen Salote Tupou (1900–1965), whose rule began in 1918. Her dynasty, the Tupou, is the third branch of the royal family and traces its descent back to Ahoeitu, the first Tu'i Tonga of whom there is record. Queen Salote's son, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV (b.1918), succeeded to the throne in 1965 and was formally crowned in 1967.