Sir Michael Thomas Somare

Michael Thomas Somare was born in Rabaul and grew up in the East Sepik region. Working as a schoolteacher and radio broadcast journalist, he developed a deep conviction that Papua New Guinea's hundreds of disparate indigenous linguistic groups could unite as an independent sovereign democracy. In 1967, he co-founded the Pangu Party to campaign for self-government.

Elected Chief Minister in 1972, Somare skillfully negotiated the terms of decolonization with Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. On September 16, 1975, he hoisted the new red, black, and gold national flag in Port Moresby, becoming independent Papua New Guinea's inaugural Prime Minister. Affectionately known throughout the Pacific as "The Grand Chief" and "Sana" (peacemaker in Sepik culture), he served as prime minister for seventeen years across four separate terms (1975–1980, 1982–1985, 2002–2010, 2011), preserving parliamentary democracy in a nation of 800 languages.