Liliuokalani Biography

Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She took the throne in 1891 following the death of her brother, King Kalakaua. She was a strong voice for native Hawaiians, whose power had been limited by the increasing influence of U.S. settlers in Hawaii. In 1893, U.S. Marines forced her at gunpoint to surrender the throne. Although she pleaded her case in Washington, DC, the 1898 annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States ended the possibility of Hawaiian self-rule.

Like other Hawaiian royals, Liliuokalani was an accomplished musician. Among her more than 150 compositions are “Aloha Oe,” which Elvis Presley arranged and recorded for the movie Blue Hawaii (1961), and “Ahe Lau Makani,” which was revived by the legendary Eddie Kamae during the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1960s and 1970s.

See also Encyclopedia: Liliuokalani