Michael Bernacchi
Michael Louis Bernacchi CMG OBE (1911–1983) was a British colonial administrator, who was the Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands from 1952 to 1961.[1]
Michael Bernacchi | |
|---|---|
| Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands | |
| In office 5 Aug 1952 – Oct 1961 | |
| Preceded by | John Peel |
| Succeeded by | Val Andersen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1911 |
| Died | 1983 (aged 71–72) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Colonial Service |
Bernacchi also served as a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy, and as a district officer in the Colonial Office in British Malaya during the Malayan Emergency.[2]
He was the eldest son of Louis Bernacchi, an Australian physicist and astronomer best known for his role in several Antarctic expeditions.[3] He married Elaine Chapman from Navua, Fiji. Chapman was the granddaughter of Sir John Maynard Hedstrom, founder of Morris Hedstrom and Company, the largest trading corporation in Fiji.[4]
Between 1966 and 1983 he lived in Christchurch, New Zealand. He donated many of his father's Antarctic collection to the Canterbury Museum,[3] that related to the Carstens Borchgrevink's Southern Cross expedition (1898–1900) and the Discovery expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott (1901–1904).
References
- Walsh, Michael Ravell (2020). A History of Kiribati: From the Earliest Times to the 40th Anniversary of the Republic. ISBN 9-79869535-895-7.
- "Recounting memories of a colonial past". The Star Asia News Network. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
- "Heritage Assessment – Statement of Significance - Heritage Item Number 328" (PDF). Christchurch City Council. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
- Grappling with the Bomb: Britain's Pacific H-bomb tests, by Nic Maclellan, published 2017 by ANU Press, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.