Joseph Gregorio II

[2] Born 26 April 1847, he was the eldest surviving son of King Gregorio I Maputeoa and Queen Maria Eutokia Toaputeitou, one of his two wives.

Joseph had four siblings: one brother named Jean Népomucène and three sisters, two of whom became nuns in the Rouru Convent on Mount Duff.

[3][4] Prior to his birth, his father and his great uncle Matua played pivotal roles in the conversion of the Gambier Islands to Christianity by French Picpus priests, Honoré Laval and François Caret.

[6][7][8] During most of his reign, the young king was educated by the French missionaries at the Re'e Seminary College on Aukena, one of the earliest institution of higher learning in the South Pacific.

At the time, other factions in the kingdom were in support of ending the monarchy and either becoming a republic or a theocracy under the guidance of Laval and the French mission.

Chapelle St-Pierre, Rikitea , where King Joseph Gregorio and his father Maputeoa are buried.
Ruins of the Re'e Seminary College on Aukena , one of the earliest institution of higher learning in French Polynesia , where Joseph Gregorio II received his education