Kamehameha II - Early Life

Early Life

He was born circa 1797 in Hilo, on the island of Hawaiʻi, the eldest son of Kamehameha I and his highest-ranking consort Queen Keōpuolani. He was groomed to be heir to the throne from age five. It was originally planned that he would be born at the Kūkaniloko birth site on the island of Oʻahu but the Queen's sickness prevented travel.

Given in care to his father's trusted servant Hanapi, who took the child to rear him in the lands of Kalaoa in Hilo Paliku, he was taken back, after five or six months, by his maternal grandmother Kekuiapoiwa Liliha because she felt he was not getting the right diet. Kamehameha I, then, put him in the care of Queen Kaʻahumanu (another wife of Kamehameha I), who was appointed as Liholiho's official guardian.

Jean Baptiste Rives, a Frenchman about his age, arrived on the islands in the early 19th century. Rives taught the royal princes some English and French, becoming a close friend (ʻaikāne). Other companions included Kanaʻina, Kekūanāoʻa and Laʻanui.

He was named ʻIolani Liholiho. His first name meant "royal hawk" while his second and most referred name Liholiho means something that is glowing, shining, the shining issue, reflecting the glory of the heavens. A later interpretation said his name mean "dog of dogs" which arose from a mistake made by Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue in calling him "Lio-Lio" which later writers took as ʻīlio ʻīlio would mean "dog of dogs". Each version disgard the vital "h" sound in his name, but the latter interpretation was widely accepted due the negative opinion of the king as a pleasure-seeker.