an important member of the Hawaiian nobility at the time of the founding of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and the arrival of Christian missionaries. One of the first Hawaiians to read and write and sponsor a church, she made a dramatic display of her new faith which made her the subject of a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The father of Kapi'olani was Keawemauhili, who was high chief (Ali'i Nui) of the district of Hilo on the island of Hawai'i. She was probably born there about 1781. Keawemauhili was half-brother to Kalani'opu'u who was king of the island during the fatal visit of Captain James Cook in 1779.
