Â鶹APP

Maori people Image by from

10 Most Famous New Zealanders.

With a patchwork history of Maori, European, Pacific Island and Asian influences, New Zealand’s population of five million people is a melting-pot of cultures fondly referred to as Kiwis.

The name ‘Kiwi’ comes from the curious little flightless bird that is unique to New Zealand. 

Maori people have always held the kiwi bird in high regard. Their feathers were used to make ‘kahu kiwi’, valuable cloaks worn by tribal chiefs. During the First World War, New Zealand soldiers were referred to as ‘kiwis’, and the nickname stuck

Cartoonists use images of the kiwi bird to represent New Zealand as a country. Eventually, the term Kiwi was attributed to all New Zealanders who proudly embrace the nickname. 

Just like the bird, New Zealanders are unique, adaptable and a little quirky. 

New Zealanders have registered remarkable achievements that have brought to the fore Kiwi history-makers, pioneers and celebrities.

Here is our list of 10 Famous New Zealanders and where they come from.

1.  Kate Sheppard- Christchurch

Photo by HH Clifford –

Katherine Wilson Sheppard was born in Liverpool, England but she emigrated to New Zealand with her family in 1868 where she went ahead to achieve so much.

She led the fight for the right for New Zealand women to vote. Her strategic brilliance in the suffragist campaign resulted in the country becoming the first in the world to grant women over 21 the right to vote in 1893.

Sheppard lit the global fire of escalating agitation for universal suffrage leaders. She campaigned for the change in public meetings, through writings, and petitioning local politicians and national politicians.

Kate was a prolific community mobiliser who was also involved in the Womens’ Christian Temperance Union, founded the National Council of Women, established the first women-owned newspaper in the country and was a pioneering cyclist.

2. Sir Ernest Rutherford –  Brightwater, Nelson

Photo courtesy Library of Congress –

Ernest Rutherford was born in 1871 in Brightwater near Nelson, New Zealand, the fourth child and second son in a family of seven sons and five daughters.

He was one of the first international students to gain a graduate scholarship to Cambridge without going through the undergraduate system.

Rutherford is considered the “father of nuclear physics” after making three major discoveries that have shaped science.

He undoubtedly postulated the nuclear structure of the atom, discovered alpha and beta rays and proposed the laws of radioactive decay.

He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 his work on radioactive chemistry and the transmutation of elements

Rutherford was knighted in 1914; he was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1925, and in 1931 he was named First Baron Rutherford of Nelson, New Zealand, and Cambridge.

3. Sir Peter  Jackson – Pukerua Bay

Photo by Mike Walen –

Sir Peter Jackson is a movie director who was born in the beautiful Pukerua Bay in Porirua, a short drive from Wellington. Pukerua Bay itself is a small coastal community with a population of fewer than 2,000 people.

He is known mostly for directing the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies. His directorial debut was in 1987 and has since released several feature films. Lord of the Rings films in particular adored by fans all around the world.

Jackson shot the Lord of the Rings trilogy in his native New Zealand taking advantage of its spectacular scenery and the special effects production capacity he had built up in his previous films.

While typical films might complete principal photography in a few months, The Lord of the Rings shoots kept an international cast on location in New Zealand for a year and a half. Putting his country on the film locations map.

He has won 3 academy awards and was knighted in 2010.

4. Sir Edmund Hillary – Auckland

With Lady Hillary Photo by John Mathew Smith –

He was born in 1919 and grew up in Auckland. Although he made his living as a beekeeper, mountain climbing kept calling.

He started out by climbing mountains in New Zealand,  in the Alps and in the Himalayas, where he scaled 11 peaks of over 20,000 feet. Finally, he conquered the tallest mountain in the world.

Hillary was invited to join an expedition to Mount Everest with the British. The expedition party was 400 strong but by the time they got to the final camp, there were only two teams left.

One of the teams was Hillary and the Sherpa Tensing Norgay that went on to become the first people to summit Mt. Everest On 29th May 1953.

Furthermore, Hillary holds the record for the first person to reach both the North and South Poles and summit Everest.

5. Jacinda Adern-  Hamilton

Photo by NewZild –

Jacinda Ardern is the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand and was born in Hamilton, New Zealand.

She was elected in September 2017. At 37 years she became New Zealand’s youngest leader in 150 years  and only the third female Prime Minister of New Zealand

Adern entered New Zealand’s Parliament at the age of 26 in her series of “firsts”, became the youngest-ever leader of the Labour Party.

Consequently, she led the party to electoral victory saw her sworn in as Prime Minister heading a coalition government involving the New Zealand First Party and the Greens.

She is the youngest woman on earth elected head of government.

Further, she is only the second elected head of government to have had a baby while in office. 

6. Jonah Lomu- Auckland

Jonah Tali Lomu was a New Zealand rugby union player.  He became the youngest ever All Black when he played his first international at the age of 19 years and 45 days.

Though born in Auckland New Zealand he grew up in Tonga under the care his of aunt and uncle. He started playing rugby when he was young and was his team’s top scorer at Wesley College.

His feats at the 1995 Rugby World Cup tournament made him a household name and guaranteed the transition to professional ranks where he redefined wing play.

Standing at 1.96m tall and weighing 120kg the incredible Lomu earned 63 caps and scored 185 points for New Zealand All Black from 1994 to 2002.

He is widely regarded by most as the first true global superstar of rugby union. He was also rugby’s biggest draw card’ during his career.

In 1995, Lomu underwent a  kidney transplant due to nephrotic syndrome. He died of a heart attack related to his kidney disease.

7.  Jean Batten-Rotorua

Potrait of an aviator Photo by Sam Hood –

Jane Gardner Batten was born on 15 September 1909 in Rotorua, New Zealand. She was New Zealand’s greatest aviator, celebrated worldwide for her amazing solo flights during the 1930s.

Batten’s flying bug bit her in the late 1920s as the first flights of ‘an era of hugely publicized long-distance record-breaking flights’ began. Her mother encouraged this new ambition. Jean went on to become a celebrated aviator.

In May 1934, she made the trip from England to Australia in the Gipsy Moth in  14 days and 22 hours beating the then-record by over 4 days. She holds several flying records.

 For her heroics, she took Harmon Trophy three times.

After her many triumphs, she became a recluse and lived in various places around the world. she died from rabies complications in Majorca, Spain.

8. Valarie Adams- Rotorua

Photo by Eric Van Leeuwen –

Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams born in Rotorua is a retired New Zealand Olympic Gold Medal-winning shot putter. Her mother was from Tonga and her father was from England. 

She comes from a sporting family as Valerie’s youngest brother Steven Adams is an NBA basketball player while 2 others have played for teams in the New Zealand basketball league

Valerie is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner.

Her personal best throw of 21.24 metres outdoors and 20.54 m indoors. These marks are Oceanian, Commonwealth and New Zealand national records.

Dame Valerie Adams is one of New Zealand’s most successful and celebrated Olympic athletes.  She is The Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit holder.

9. Sophie Pascoe – Christchurch

Photo courtesy of New Zealand Government –

Sophie Pascoe was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and is NZ’s greatest Paralympian having won several in various swimming events. A lawnmower accident aged two left her amputated below the knee.

Paralympians Graham Cordon and Roly Crichton mentored her. Pascoe started swimming when she was 7.

When she was 15, she became the youngest ever New Zealander to attend the Paralympics Games in Beijing in 2008.

The standard-bearer for Para-sport in New Zealand, Sophie Pascoe is a national treasure. She is an eleven-time Paralympics gold medalist and multiple World Champions.

At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Sophie won four medals taking her total tally to 19 Paralympic medals.

This has now made Sophie the most decorated and successful New Zealand Paralympian ever.

She has competed in 4 Paralympics from 2008 to 2020 and has brought home more medals than any other Kiwi with 11 gold, 7 silver, and 1 bronze.

10.  Neil Finn – Te Awamutu

Photo by Ralph_PH –

Neil Mullane Finn OBE is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician.

With his brother Tim,  Finn rose to prominence in the late 1970s with Split Enz and wrote the successful songs One Step Ahead, History Never Repeats, I Got You and Message to My Girl, among others.

After Split Enz broke up in 1984, Finn founded Crowded House with Split Enz’s last drummer Paul Hester in 1985 and served as the band’s lead singer.

The group achieved international success in 1987 when they released the single Don’t Dream It’s Over, written by Finn.

After Crowded House disbanded in 1996, Finn and his brother Tim released two albums as the Finn Brothers.

In 2006, Finn reformed Crowded House. On 9 April 2018, it was announced that Finn had joined Fleetwood Mac and would perform on their forthcoming tour in 2018.

Finn has also recorded several successful solo albums and assembled diverse musicians for the 7 Worlds Collide project.

The Kiwis New Zealanders are friendly and down-to-earth people who embrace the spirit of manaakitanga, or hospitality. It’s their friendly nature that makes us fall in love with them.

This list gives you a peek at the pioneering, rugged, outdoorsy nature of new Zealanders that beckons you to visit New Zealand.