DON FRANCISCO de PAULA y MARIN

He arrived in Hawaii about 1793. Marin, or Manini, as he was called, which was the nearest the Hawaiians could come to coping with his name, soon became very influential in the affairs of the kingdom. He was a friend and confidant of Kamehameha the Great, who made him a chief and gave him lands.

There is no record that Manini received any formal medical training, but he became, whether or not, physician to the Hawaiians. Ralph Kuykendall in his "The Hawaiian Kingdom 1778-1854" speaks of Marin as having "some medical knowledge". Robert Wyllie in an address read before the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society in August 1850 says Marin acted as a physician. Certainly, he devoted a great deal of his time to attending the sick. His journal contains many references to those who were ailing, and we are led to presume that they were "patients" of Marin's. There are more specific entries such as that of January 27, 1810 when Craimocu (Kalaimoku) orders him to cure his mother and on June 11, 1820, "This day I went to cure Quiaveruare (Keaweluale) and I applied a Blister".

His most famous patient was Kamehameha, and on April 15, 1819 Marin was sent for by ship to make the trip from Honolulu to Kailua, Hawaii, where His Majesty was staying to "cure the king". The trip took four days and he remained with the king until his death on May 8th., his services unfortunately proving "ineffectual".

There is no doubt that Don Manini was a brilliant and versatile man. Not only did he practice the healing arts, but he acted as consul of various South American republics, captain in the Hawaiian army, agent for various ships' captains, tax gatherer, interpreter and inspector of sandal wood weights. In addition he served on various occasions as a butcher, cook, mason, ship carpenter, stone cutter, brewer and cigar maker.

This unusual man was best known perhaps for his agricultural experiments in cultivating pineapples, oranges, limes, beans, cabbages, potatoes, peaches, melons, maize, tobacco, lettuce etc., to mention but a few. It was he who boiled potatoes for the king . His was the first vineyard in the islands. He manufactured kukui-oil and coconut oil, candles, tiles, hay cigars, beer and brandy.

Don Manini kept a herd of cattle and imported horses from California and Mexico.

In spite of being a loyal Roman Catholic, he was kind to the Protestant missionaries on their arrival in the islands.

He is credited with having some three dozen children, and apparently did not limit his affections to his wife. One source states he lived with two other women and was "Queen Kaahumanu's kane for a time".

Don Manini died October 30, 1837, in Honolulu at the age of 64.

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