Jean-Baptiste Céran-Jérusalémy

Jean-Baptiste Heitarauri Céran-Jérusalémy (4 February 1921 — 15 May 2014) was a French Polynesian politician who served twice as president of the Assembly of French Polynesia. He was a founder of the Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People.

Jean-Baptiste Céran-Jérusalémy
President of the Assembly of French Polynesia
In office
23 April 1958 – 27 May 1958
Preceded byWalter Grand
Succeeded byGeorges Leboucher
In office
14 March 1953 – 18 October 1953
Preceded byAlbert Leboucher
Succeeded byNoël Ilari
Member of the French Polynesian Assembly
for Windward Islands
In office
14 October 1962 – 10 September 1967
Member of the French Polynesian Assembly
for Leeward Islands
In office
3 November 1957 – 14 October 1962
Personal details
Born4 February 1921[1]
Papeete, French Polynesia[1]
Died15 May 2014(2014-05-15) (aged 93)[2]
Political partyDemocratic Rally of the Tahitian People
Pupu Tiama Maohi

Céran-Jérusalémy was born in Papeete.[1] After being dismissed from school, he worked at the public works department, and then the government printing office.[1] During the Second World War he served in the local infantry company, but returned to the printing office after being demobilised in 1944.[1] In 1947 he was a founder, with Pouvanaa a Oopa, of the Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People.[3]

He was elected President of the Assembly following the 1953 French Oceanian legislative election.[4] As president, he advocated for French Oceania to become a French Department.[5] He resigned as president in October 1953 after the Assembly rejected a motion for Departmentalisation.[6] In August 1954 he interrupted an Assembly session to demand reinstatement, but was unsuccessful.[7]

In 1956 he was elected president of the RDPT.[1][3] He was re-elected to the Assembly in the 1957 election, and elected president of the Assembly again in 1958. He was removed as president following the Gaullist riots which led to the sacking of Oopa's government.[1] He was expelled from the RDPT in the leadup to the 1958 French Polynesian constitutional referendum, where he advocated a "yes" vote, and subsequently formed the RDPT-Te Aratai.[1] Following Oopa's arrest on false charges of political violence, he disassociated himself completely from Oopa.[8]

He was re-elected to the Assembly in the 1962 election as the only representative of the Pupu Tiama Maohi. The party was banned along with the RDPT by the French colonial authorities in November 1963 for advocating against French nuclear testing.[9] He then founded the Pupu Tahoeraa Maohi, which was accused by the French of being a renewal of the same party.[1] Following the French government's recognition of China in 1964, he advocated for Chinese-Tahitians to be granted citizenship.[10] He lost his seat in the Assembly in the 1967 election.[11]

References
  1. "1953-1957 : L'instabilité: Les présidents de l'assemblée" (in French). Assemblée de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  2. "Avis de décès: Jean-Baptiste CERAN-JERUSALEMY s'en est allé" (in French). Tahiti Infos. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  3. "Jean-Baptiste Céran-Jérusalémy est décédé" (in French). Polynesie 1. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  4. "Tension in French Oceania". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXIII, no. 9. 1 April 1953. p. 15. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "PAPEETE'S MAYOR WELL RECEIVED IN PARIS M. Poroi's Hurried Visit". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXIII, no. 12. 1 July 1953. p. 30. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "STRANGE VOTE IN TAHITI moderates Regain Control". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXIV, no. 4. 1 November 1953. p. 159. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "French Governor Walks From a Noisy Assembly Meeting". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXV, no. 3. 1 October 1954. p. 135. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "The Case of the Molotov Cocktails Tahiti's Pouvanaa Still Awaits Trial". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. XXIX, no. 12. 1 July 1959. p. 147. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "TWO POLITICAL PARTIES BANNED IN TAHITI". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 34, no. 5. 1 December 1963. p. 13. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "Recognition Of Red China Rouses Communist Fears In French Polynesia". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 35, no. 3. 1 March 1964. pp. 57–59. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Strong vote for autonomy in French Polynesia". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 38, no. 10. 1 October 1967. p. 25. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
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