David Malo or Davida Malo (1795–1853) was a chiefly counselor, a Hawaiian intellectual, educator, politician and minister. He is remembered by subsequent generations of Hawaiian people and scholars primarily as a Native Hawaiian historian of the Kingdom of Hawaii. In 1852 he was ordained as a minister at Kēōkea, Maui. Life David Malo was born in Keauhou on the Island of Hawaii around 1793. He spelled his name Davida, since syllables always end in vowels in the Hawaiian language. His father was named Aoao and mother was named Heone. He grew up during the period when Kamehameha I united the islands into a single kingdom. Malo was associated with the chief Kuakini, who was a brother of Queen Kaahumanu, during this time of great change, probably serving as oral historian and court genealogist. Early in life, he married Aalailoa (1790?–1822), a widow much older than him, but they had no children when she died. In 1823 Malo moved to Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui and became a student of Reverend William Richards, learning how to read and write in both English and Hawaiian. Malo converted to Christianity and was given the baptismal name of David. He married again to a woman named Pahia (1796–1845), who took the Christian name Bathsheba; she also died without children. He was a member of the first class at the Lahainaluna School, later serving as school master. He married a third time to Lepeka (1810–1853), who took the Christian name Rebecca, and had one daughter he named Aalailoa after his first wife, given the Christian name Emma (1846–1886); she later married John M. Kapena with whom she had a daughter Leihulu Kapena (1868–1930), the wife of Henry Carter. He was ordained into the Christian ministry and settled down in the seaside village of Kalepolepo on South/West Maui where he remained until his death on October 25, 1853. Work When Queen Kaahumanu died in June 1832, Malo composed a grief chant in her honor titled He Kanikau o Ka'ahumanu. He worked alongside Rev. William Richards to translate the book of Matthew, as he was Richardsʻ Hawaiian language teacher. From about 1835 he started writing notes on the Hawaiian religion and cultural history, along with members of the school and instructor Sheldon Dibble. David Malo was part of the class that conducted research into Hawaiian history and published their findings in the work Ka Mooolelo