List of colonial governors of the Marshall Islands

This article lists the colonial governors of the Marshall Islands, from the establishment of the German colonial presence during the 1885 Carolines Question[1][2][3] (as part of German New Guinea), through the American capture of the islands during World War II, until the official establishment of the autonomous Government of the Marshall Islands in 1979 (within the American-administered TTPI).

German map of the protectorate (Schutzgebiet) of the Marshall Islands, 1897.
German administrative map of the Marshall Islands, 1897.
Marshall Islands District Administration (Distad) Office, 1978.

List

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

Tenure Portrait Incumbent Notes
Kommissar (1885–1886)
1885 to 1886Gustav von Oertzen
Kaiserlicher Kommissare (Imperial commissioners, 1886–1894)
1886 to 5 October 1887Wilhelm Knappe
5 October 1887 to 29 March 1889Franz Leopold SonnenscheinActing to 14 April 1888
29 March 1889 to 14 April 1890Eugen BrandeisFirst time, acting
14 April 1890 to February 1892Friedrich Louis Max Biermann
February 1892 to 1893Eugen BrandeisSecond time, acting
1893 to 1894Ernst Schmidt-Dargitz
Landeshauptleute (State captains, 1894–1914)
11 May 1894 to March 1898Georg Irmer
24 March 1898 to 18 January 1906Eugen BrandeisActing to 22 February 1900
18 March 1902 to 1903Waldemar von BunsenActing for Brandeis
1903Konrad GeppertActing for Brandeis
18 January 1906 to May 1906Ludwig KaiserActing
1 April 1906 to 3 October 1914the Governors of German New Guinea
Bezirksamtleute (District magistrates, 1906–1911)
1906 to 30 April 1907Victor Berg
1907Joseph SiegwanzActing
1908 to November 1909Wilhelm Stuckhardt
November 1909 to 1910Erich BerghausenInterim
1910 to 1911Georg Merz
Stationsleiter (Station chief, 1911–1914)
1911 to 3 October 1914Georg MerzDeported by the Japanese on 31 May 1915
Commanders of IJN South Seas Squadrons (1914)
3 October 1914 to 28 December 1914Yamaya TaninIn occupation of central and eastern Caroline Islands (from 3 October 1914) and Marshall Islands
7 October 1914 to 28 December 1914Matsumura TatsuoIn occupation of Palau island (from 8 October 1914), western Caroline Islands and northern Mariana Islands (from 14 October 1914)
Governors (1914–1944)
28 December 1914 to 2 February 1944the governors of the South Seas Mandate
Commanders of the IJN 6th Fleet Forces Service (1941–1944)
(on Kwajalein Atoll)
15 January 1941 to 1 February 1942Sukeyoshi Yatsushirō
5 February 1942 to 29 November 1943Kōsō Abe
29 November 1943 to 25 January 1944Monzo AkiyamaKilled in the Battle of Kwajalein
USN Military Governors (1944–1947)
February 1944 to 18 July 1947the Commanders Naval Forces Marianas
Marshall Islands District Administrators (Distad, 1947–1979)
September 1947 to September 1948Chester E. Herrick
December 1948 to December 1949Edward F. Ferguson
March 1950 to September 1950Roland W. Kenney
December 1950 to June 1951Frank W. Avila
1951 to 1954Donald W. Gilfillan
1954 to 1960Maynard Neas
1960 to 1961William E. Finale
27 May 1961 to 1965Peter Tali Coleman
15 October 1965 to 1969Dwight Heine
1969 to 1970Robert D. Law
1970 to 1979Oscar DeBrum

On 1 May 1979, Marshall Islands achieved autonomy within the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). For a list of heads of state after autonomy, see President of the Marshall Islands.

See also

References
  1. Spenneman, Dirk H.R. (1885). "Marshall Islands History Sources No. 18, Treaty of friendship between the Marshallese chiefs and the German Empire (1885)". Charles Sturt University (in Marshallese, German, and English). Digital Micronesia-An Electronic Library & Archive. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  2. Spenneman, Dirk H.R. (2003). "German Protectorate Period". Marshallese Manit. Marshall Islands Visitors Authority. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  3. Hezel, Francis X. (2003) Strangers in Their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands, University of Hawaii Press, pp. 45–46, ISBN 0824828046.
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