List of colonial governors of the Marshall Islands

{{Short description|none}}

{{EngvarB|date=September 2019}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}

File:Schutzgebiet der Marshall-Inseln-Deutscher Kolonialatlas 1897-Justus Perthes-Karte 30.jpg) of the Marshall Islands, 1897.]]

File:TTPI Marshall Islands District Administration Office.jpg

This article lists the colonial governors of the Marshall Islands, from the establishment of the German colonial presence during the 1885 Carolines Question{{cite web |url=http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/history/Treaty1885.html |title=Marshall Islands History Sources No. 18, Treaty of friendship between the Marshallese chiefs and the German Empire (1885) |last=Spenneman |first=Dirk H.R. |publisher=Digital Micronesia-An Electronic Library & Archive |date=1885 |website=Charles Sturt University |access-date=May 23, 2019 |language=Marshallese, German, English }}{{cite web |url=https://marshallese-manit.org/post-library-jukle/german-protectorate-period/ |title=German Protectorate Period |last=Spenneman |first=Dirk H.R. |publisher=Marshall Islands Visitors Authority |date=2003 |website=Marshallese Manit |access-date=May 23, 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112143430/https://marshallese-manit.org/post-library-jukle/german-protectorate-period/ |url-status=dead }}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}}. (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).

List

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

class="wikitable"

! Tenure

! width=60px|Portrait

! Incumbent

! Notes

align=center

!colspan="4"|Kommissar (1885–1886)

1885 to 188660px{{ill|Gustav von Oertzen (governor)|de|Gustav von Oertzen (Kolonialbeamter)|lt=Gustav von Oertzen}}
align=center

!colspan="4"|Kaiserlicher Kommissare (Imperial commissioners, 1886–1894)

1886 to 5 October 188760px{{ill|Wilhelm Knappe|de}}
5 October 1887 to 29 March 188960pxFranz Leopold SonnenscheinActing to 14 April 1888
29 March 1889 to 14 April 189060pxEugen BrandeisFirst time, acting
14 April 1890 to February 189260px{{ill|Max Biermann|de}}
February 1892 to 189360pxEugen BrandeisSecond time, acting
1893 to 189460pxErnst Schmidt-Dargitz
align=center

!colspan="4"|Landeshauptleute (State captains, 1894–1914)

11 May 1894 to March 189860px{{ill|Georg Irmer|de|Georg Irmer (Archivar)}}
24 March 1898 to 18 January 190660pxEugen BrandeisActing to 22 February 1900
18 March 1902 to 190360pxWaldemar von BunsenActing for Brandeis
190360pxKonrad GeppertActing for Brandeis
18 January 1906 to May 190660pxLudwig KaiserActing
1 April 1906 to 3 October 191460pxthe Governors of German New Guinea
align=center

!colspan="4"|Bezirksamtleute (District magistrates, 1906–1911)

1906 to 30 April 190760pxVictor Berg
190760pxJoseph SiegwanzActing
1908 to November 190960pxWilhelm Stuckhardt
November 1909 to 191060pxErich BerghausenInterim
1910 to 191160pxGeorg Merz
align=center

!colspan="4"|Stationsleiter (Station chief, 1911–1914)

1911 to 3 October 191460pxGeorg MerzDeported by the Japanese on 31 May 1915
align=center

!colspan="4"|Commanders of IJN South Seas Squadrons (1914)

3 October 1914 to 28 December 191460pxYamaya TaninIn occupation of central and eastern Caroline Islands {{small|(from 3 October 1914)}} and Marshall Islands
7 October 1914 to 28 December 191460pxMatsumura TatsuoIn occupation of Palau island {{small|(from 8 October 1914)}}, western Caroline Islands and northern Mariana Islands {{small|(from 14 October 1914)}}
align=center

!colspan="4"|Governors (1914–1944)

28 December 1914 to 2 February 194460pxthe Governors of the South Seas Mandate
align=center

!colspan="4"|Commanders of the IJN 6th Fleet Forces Service (1941–1944)
{{small|(on Kwajalein Atoll)}}

15 January 1941 to 1 February 1942Sukeyoshi Yatsushirō
5 February 1942 to 29 November 194360pxKōsō Abe
29 November 1943 to 25 January 194460pxMonzo AkiyamaKilled in the Battle of Kwajalein
align=center

!colspan="4"|USN Military Governors (1944–1947)

February 1944 to 18 July 194760pxthe Commanders Naval Forces Marianas
align=center

!colspan="4"|Marshall Islands District Administrators (Distad, 1947–1979)

September 1947 to September 194860pxChester E. Herrick
December 1948 to December 194960pxEdward F. Ferguson
March 1950 to September 195060pxRoland W. Kenney
December 1950 to June 195160pxFrank W. Avila
1951 to 195460pxDonald W. Gilfillan
1954 to 196060pxMaynard Neas
1960 to 196160pxWilliam E. Finale
27 May 1961 to 196560pxPeter Tali Coleman
15 October 1965 to 196960pxDwight HeineThe first Micronesian to hold the office[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-334941320/view?partId=nla.obj-335072419#page/n24/mode/1up Dweight Heine, Micronesian leader par excellence] Pacific Islands Monthly, January 1985, p24
1969 to 197060pxRobert D. Law
1970 to 197960pxOscar 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

{{reflist}}