Percy Marunui Murphy was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 notable for being the first Māori to hold the title of mayor in New Zealand.

Alongside three of his brothers he served in the Second World War. He was in the 28th Māori Battalion

Maori Battalion

The 28th Battalion, more commonly known as the Māori Battalion, was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army that served during the Second World War. It was formed following pressure on the Labour government by some Māori MPs and Māori organisations throughout the country wanting a full Māori...

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Following the war he was a businessman and community leader; he was on the Murupara Borough Council and then served as mayor of Murupara

Murupara

Murupara is a town located in the North Island of New Zealand. The town is situated in an isolated part of the Bay of Plenty region between the Kaingaroa Forest and Te Urewera National Park, on the banks of the Rangitaiki River, 65 kilometres southeast of Rotorua, along SH38. Murupara is the...

 for three terms 1960 to 1969.

Following his retirement from politics, he remained active in the affairs of his iwi

Iwi

In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...

 Ngati Manawa and his marae

Marae

A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...

 Rangitahi. He died in Rotorua

Rotorua

Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...

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Sources