Jonah Kà «hià  Kalanianaûole (March 26, 1871 â January 7, 1922) was a prince of the Kingdom of Hawaiûi until it was overthrown by a coalition of American and European businessmen in 1893. He went on to become the delegate of the Territory of Hawaii to the United States Congress, and as such is the only royal-born member of Congress.
Kà «hià  was often called Ke Aliûi MakaûÃÂinana (Prince of the People) and is well known for his efforts to preserve and strengthen the Hawaiian people. His birthday is celebrated as a state holiday in Hawaiûi.
Kalanianaûole was born March 26, 1871, in Kukuiûula, Kà Âloa on the island of Kauaûi. Like many aliûi (Hawaiian nobility) his genealogy was complex, but he was an heir of Kaumualiûi, the last ruling chief of Kauaûi. He was named after his maternal grandfather Kà «hià  Kalanianaûole, a High Chief of Hilo, and his paternal grandfather Jonah Piûikoi, a High Chief of Kauaûi. His Hawaiian name Kuhio translated into "Chief who leaned forward as he stood," and "Kalanianaûole" meant "ambitious Chief," or "Chief who is never satisfied."
He attended St. Alban's College, now ûIolani School and Oahu College (now Punahou School), in Honolulu on the island of Oûahu. In the 1870s, a French school teacher at St. Alban's, commented on how the young man's eyes twinkled merrily and how he kept a perpetual smile. "He is so cute, just like the pictures of the little cupid", teacher Pierre Jones said. The nickname, "Prince Cupid", stuck with Prince Kà «hià  for the rest of his life.
After completing his basic education he traveled abroad for further study. His uncle King KalÃÂkaua pushed for future Hawaiian leaders to attain a broader education with his 1880 Hawaiian Youths Abroad program. The Hawaiian government sent Kà «hià  and his two brothers KawÃÂnanakoa and Keliûiahonui to attend Saint Matthew's School in San Mateo, California in 1885. Keliûiahonui died in 1887 while at home from school.
In 1890, Kà «hià  and KawÃÂnanakoa were sent to attend schools in the United Kingdom. This came a year after their cousin Kaûiulani was also sent to England for school He studied at the Royal Agricultural College in England before graduating from business school in England. He was described as an excellent marksman and athlete at sports such as football and cycling.
While attending school in San Mateo, Kà «hià  and his brothers surfed the Pacific seashore at Santa Cruz. The brothers demonstrated the Hawaiian sport of board surfing to the locals, becoming the first California surfers in 1885. In September 1890, KawÃÂnanakoa and Kà «hià  became the first surfers in the British Isles and taught their English tutor John Wrightson to surf on the beaches of Bridlington in northern England.
After the rule of the House of Kamehameha ended with the death of King Kamehameha V in 1872, and King Lunalilo died in 1874, the House of KalÃÂkaua ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiûi. He became an orphan after his father died in 1878 and mother in 1884. Kalanianaûole was adopted by King David KalÃÂkaua's wife, Queen Kapiûolani, who was his maternal aunt. This practice was called hÃÂnai, a traditional form of adoption widely used in ancient Hawaii, which made Kalanianaûole a Prince of the Kingdom. After KalÃÂkaua's death in 1891, Liliûuokalani became queen, and she continued to favour Kalanianaûole.
He worked in a minor position within the Department of the Interior and Customs Office.
However, in 1893 the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii put in power first a Provisional Government of Hawaii, and then a republic with no role for monarchs.
At age twenty-four, he participated in the 1895 Wilcox rebellion against the Republic of Hawaiûi. The rebels proved no match for the Republic troops and police, and shortly after hostilities began, all those involved in the rebellion were routed and captured. Kà «hià  was sentenced to a year in prison while others were charged with treason and sentenced to execution (commuted to imprisonment). Kà «hià  served his full term. His fiancée, Elizabeth Kahanu Kalanianaûole visited him daily.
In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii and the Territory of Hawaii was formed in 1900. His cousin Princess Kaûiulani and his aunt Queen Dowager Kapiûolani, who left her properties to Kà «hià  and his brother, died in 1899. In response to these personal losses, Kà «hià  and his wife left Hawaii from March 1900 to September 1901. They traveled widely in the United States and Europe, where they were treated as royalty. He traveled to South Africa where he either enlisted in the British Army or accompanied the army as an observer in the Second Boer War.
Kà «hià  returned from his self-imposed exile to take part in politics. He became active in the Home Rule Party of Hawaii, which represented native Hawaiians and continued to fight for Hawaiian independence.
On July 10, 1902, Prince Kà «hià  split from the Home Rule Party, walking out of its convention along with nearly half of the other delegates. He formed the short-lived Hui Kuokoa Party. However, by September 1, 1902, Kuhio decided to join the Republican Party, was nominated as their candidate for Congress, and dramatically altered the political landscape. Kà «hià  was elected delegate to the U.S. Congress as a Republican.
Kà «hià  circulated a letter to Senators in 1920 that is descriptive of his thinking. "After extensive investigation and survey on the part of various organizations organized for the purpose of rehabilitating the race, it was found that the only method in which to rehabilitate the race was to place them back upon the soil."
He served from March 4, 1903, until his death, winning a total of ten elections. During this time he instituted local government at the county level, creating the county system that survives in Hawaiûi. He staffed the resulting civil service positions with Hawaiian appointees. This move combined the political patronage system of 19th century American politics with the traditional Hawaiian chiefly role of beneficent delegation of authority to trusted retainers.
In 1903, Kà «hià  reorganized the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, which held the first observance of the Kamehameha Day holiday in 1904. He was a founder of the first Hawaiian Civic Club on December 7, 1918. He helped organize a centenary celebration of the death of Kamehameha I in 1919.
In 1919, Kà «hià  introduced in Congress the first-ever Hawaii Statehood Act. Forty years passed before it came to fruition.
In 1915, political parties in the territory asked Kà «hià  to bring a bill to the U.S. Congress that requested the right for the territorial legislature to rule on women's suffrage. The Organic Act established the Territory of Hawaii and specifically forbade the territorial legislature from granting suffrage on the local level contrary to the federal constitution. Kà «hià  received no attention from Congress on the matter, but brought the issue forward again in 1916.
In 1917 Kà «hià  brought another bill to the United States Congress that was put forward by Senator John F. Shaforth. The bill would allow the territory of Hawaii to decide suffrage. In 1918 New England suffragist Almira Hollander Pitman, who was married to the son of Hawaiian chiefess Kinoûoleoliliha, helped successfully advocate for the passage of that bill. Pitman used her political contacts to help Kà «hià Â. The bill was enacted in June 1918.
After the revision to the Organic Act, the Hawaiian legislature debated allowing women's suffrage from 1919 to 1920. The issue became deadlocked due to disagreement between the Hawaii Territorial Senate and the Hawaii Territorial House about whether the bill would take effect in the primary election of 1919 or 1920 and whether a referendum should decide the issue. Local legislation never passed because the following year Congress passed the suffrage-granting Nineteenth Amendment.
During this period, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921 was enacted. Despite Kà «hià Â's wishes, the Act required that recipients verify blood-quantum requirements (the degree to which their ancestors were native Hawaiian), and leased land instead of granting fee-simple ownership, creating a perpetual government institution. This act and those that followed remain controversial in Hawaiian politics, and were used to justify more recent legislation such as the Akaka Bill. Kà «hià  served on the first Hawaiian Homes Commission starting on September 16, 1921.
Kà «hià  died on January 7, 1922. His body was interred near his royal family at the Royal Mausoleum known as Mauna ûAla in Nuûuanu on the island of Oûahu. His widow Kahanu used her own funds (later reimbursed by the territorial government) to renovate the chapel at the mausoleum in his honor.
In 1888, KalÃÂkaua sent Kà «hià  to Japan where he was a guest of the Japanese government. He had wished that Kà «hià  would marry a Japanese princess but this political alliance never materialized.
On January 29, 1894, when Princess Kaûiulani was nineteen, Liliûuokalani wrote asking her to consider marrying either Prince David KawÃÂnanakoa, Prince Jonah Kà «hià  Kalanianaûole, or an unnamed Japanese prince (then studying in London). She reminded her, "It is the wish of the people that you should marry one or the other of the Princes, that we may have more [A]liis. There are no other Aliis who they look to except Prince David or his brother, who would be eligible to the throne..." It took five months for Kaûiulani to respond to Liliûuokalani's suggestion. In a June 22, 1894, letter Kaûiulani asserted that she would prefer to marry for love unless it was necessary stating, "I feel it would be wrong if I married a man I did not love."
Kà «hià  married Elizabeth Kahanu Kaûauwai and had one daughter, Princess Maude Kanaka Kalaniana'ole in 1894, that was given to an Honorable Family, in a protective private adoption, after the Hawaiian overthrow.
Kà «hià  is memorialized by streets, beaches and surf breaks, Kuhio Beach Park in Poipu near his birthplace, the Prince Kà «hià  Plaza Shopping Center, and the Prince Kuhio Federal Building named in his honor. Prince Kà «hià  Day on March 26 is a state holiday that honors Kà «hià Â's birth. Three of Hawaii's public schools also honor him: Kalani High School in Honolulu, Prince Jonah Kà «hià  Elementary School in Honolulu and Prince Jonah Kà «hià  Kalanianaûole Elementary and Intermediate School in Papaikou, Hawaii, near Hilo on the Island of Hawaii.