John Dademo Waiko, born in the village of Tabara in the Northern Province

Oro Province

Oro Province, formerly Northern Province, is a coastal province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The province covers 22,800 km², and has 133,065 inhabitants ....

 of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

 in 1944, is a Papua New Guinean historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

, anthropologist, playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.

He obtained a PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 in Social Sciences

Social sciences

Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...

 from the Australian National University

Australian National University

The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

, thus becoming the first Papua New Guinean to earn a PhD of any kind. In 1986, he was the first Papua New Guinean to be appointed Professor, and became head of the History department at the University of Papua New Guinea

University of Papua New Guinea

The University of Papua New Guinea was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired into higher education in Papua New Guinea...

. He has published a number of articles on the history

History of Papua New Guinea

The prehistory of Papua New Guinea can be traced back to about 60,000 years ago when people first migrated towards the Australian continent. The written history began when European navigators first sighted New Guinea in the early part of the 16th century....

, culture

Culture of Papua New Guinea

The culture of Papua New Guinea is many-sided and complex. It is estimated that more than 1000 different cultural groups exist in Papua New Guinea, and most groups have their own language...

 and politics of his country

Politics of Papua New Guinea

The politics of Papua New Guinea takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government and of a multi-party system. Papua New Guinea is an independent country and Commonwealth Realm....

. His book A Short History of Papua New Guinea was first published in 1993.

He is also the author of a play, The Unexpected Hawk, published in 1971.

In 1992, Waiko was elected to Parliament

National Parliament of Papua New Guinea

The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was first created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea, but gained its current name with the granting of independence in 1975....

, beginning his national political career. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2002, before losing his seat in Parliament in the 2002 general election

Papua New Guinean general election, 2002

General elections were held between 15-29 June, 2002 in Papua New Guinea. Sir Michael Somare's National Alliance Party won the most seats, and he went on to become Prime Minister.-Results:...

. In the 2007 general election

Papua New Guinean general election, 2007

General elections were held in Papua New Guinea from 30 June 2007 to 14 July 2007.For the first time, the election did not use first past the post , but rather Limited Preferential Voting, in which voters number...

, he stood unsuccessfully for election at the Sohe Open constituency, representing the new Papua New Guinea Party

Papua New Guinea Party

The Papua New Guinea Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea. It was founded in 2007 by former prime minister and leader of the People's Democratic Movement, Mekere Morauta The party won 8 out of 109 seats in the 2007 General Elections With this result the party became the largest opposition...

.

Waiko has been the subject of two biographical films. He was the subject of, starred in, and was associate producer of, the 1990 film Man Without Pigs, by Chris Owen

Chris Owen (director)

Chris Owen is an Australian filmmaker, who specialises in ethnographic documentary films about Papua New Guinea and its inhabitants....

. In 2007, he starred in Minister Without Money, a short film by Sandra Welkerling, focused on his political career, set against the wider context of Papua New Guinean politics

Politics of Papua New Guinea

The politics of Papua New Guinea takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government and of a multi-party system. Papua New Guinea is an independent country and Commonwealth Realm....

.