Liliuokalani [key], 1838–1917, last reigning queen of the Hawaiian Islands. She ascended the throne in 1891 upon the death of her brother, King Kalakaua. Her refusal to recognize the constitutional changes inaugurated in 1887 precipitated a revolt, fostered largely by sugar planters (mostly American residents of Hawaii), that led to her dethronement early in 1893 and the establishment of a provisional government. Failing in an attempt to regain the throne in 1895, she formally renounced her royal claims. Much of the remainder of her life was spent in the United States, where she unsuccessfully entered against the federal government claims totaling $450,000 for property and other losses. The territorial legislature of Hawaii finally voted her an annual pension of $4,000 and permitted her to receive the income from a sugar plantation of 6,000 acres (2,428 hectares). She wrote many songs, including the popular “Aloha Oe,” or “Farewell to Thee.”
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