Grace Mera Molisa

Grace Mera Molisa was a poet, publisher, and political figure in Vanuatu. She earned her BA from the University of the South Pacific—the first ni-Vanuatu woman awarded a university degree. She was a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Walter Lini from 1987 to 1991.

Molisa was integral to the women’s movement in Vanuatu and well known throughout the Pacific as an activist for feminist, environmental, and cultural causes. She was a founding member of Transparency International and Vanuatu’s National Arts Festival, was involved in the Vanuatu Association of Women Graduates, and published the voices of indigenous Pacific women through her press, Blackstone Publishing. She was described as one of the Pacific’s “leading public intellectuals and activists” at her funeral, and Edward Natapei, then prime minister of Vanuatu, called her “Amazing Grace.