General Authority Firsts
| First | Individual | Date | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First second-generation general authority | Joseph Smith, Sr. | December 18, 1833 | Presiding Patriarch | son Joseph Smith, Jr. was President of the Church |
| First non-American general authority | John Gould | April 6, 1837 | president of the Seventy | British subject, having been born in Upper Canada; released on September 3, 1837 |
| First third-generation general authority | John Smith | February 18, 1855 | Presiding Patriarch | father was Hyrum Smith, Assistant President of the Church and presiding patriarch; grandfather was Joseph Smith, Sr., presiding patriarch |
| First fourth-generation general authority | Joseph Fielding Smith | April 7, 1910 | Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | father was Joseph F. Smith; President of the Church; grandfather was Hyrum Smith; great-grandfather was Joseph Smith, Sr. |
| First general authority of Asian descent | Adney Y. Komatsu | 4 April 1975 | Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | Joined the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1976; was given emeritus status in 1993 |
| First Native American general authority | George P. Lee | 3 October 1975 | First Quorum of the Seventy | Excommunicated in 1989 |
| First resident of Europe general authority | Charles A. Didier | 3 October 1975 | First Quorum of the Seventy | Native of Belgium; was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy from 1992 to 1995 and from 2001 to 2007 |
| First resident of Asia general authority | Yoshihiko Kikuchi | October 1977 | First Quorum of the Seventy | Native of Japan |
| First resident of the United Kingdom general authority (i.e. resident when called) | Derek A. Cuthbert | March 1978 | First Quorum of the Seventy | |
| First resident of Latin America general authority | Ángel Abrea | 20 March 1981 | First Quorum of the Seventy | Given emeritus status in 2003 |
| First resident of Australia general authority | Robert E. Sackley | April 1988 | First Quorum of the Seventy | transferred to Second Quorum of the Seventy in 1989; died in 1993 |
| First general authority of black African descent | Helvécio Martins | April 1990 | Second Quorum of the Seventy | released in 1995 |
| First Korean general authority | Han In Sang | July 1991 | Second Quorum of the Seventy | released in 1996 |
| First Filipino general authority | Augusto A. Lim | July 1992 | Second Quorum of the Seventy | released in 1997 |
| First Chinese general authority | Tai Kwok Yuen | July 1992 | Second Quorum of the Seventy | released in 1997 |
| First resident of Africa general authority | Christoffel Golden Jr. | April 2001 | First Quorum of the Seventy | Resident of South Africa |
| First black African general authority | Joseph W. Sitati | April 4, 2009 | First Quorum of the Seventy | Native of Nairobi, Kenya |
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Famous quotes containing the words general and/or authority:
“The conclusion suggested by these arguments might be called the paradox of theorizing. It asserts that if the terms and the general principles of a scientific theory serve their purpose, i. e., if they establish the definite connections among observable phenomena, then they can be dispensed with since any chain of laws and interpretive statements establishing such a connection should then be replaceable by a law which directly links observational antecedents to observational consequents.”
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“Authority is not a quality one person “has,” in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)