Roa, Raúl, 1908-, Cuban minister of foreign affairs (1959-73). A lawyer, he was also a university professor in the 1940s and 1950s. He wrote prolifically as well. Appointed foreign minister by Fidel Castro, Roa gained international prominence with his blunt diplomacy. In the 1970s he worked to restore good relations with other Latin American countries, and in 1973 he signed an antihijacking agreement with the United States.

Auahitūroa is a personification of comets, and the origin of fire, in a legend of the Ngāti Awa, a Māori tribe of the eastern Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. The name can be translated 'long standing smoke', a fitting description for a comet. Auahitūroa is a son of Tama-nui-te-rā (the sun god). Tama-nui-te-rā tells Auahitūroa to take a beneficial thing to humankind in the shape of fire. Auahitūroa comes down to earth in the form of a comet, and marries Mahuika, younger sister of Hinenui-te-pō, goddess of death. The sons of Auahitūroa and Mahuika are Ngā Mānawa, the five Fire Children. Another Māori name for a comet is Ūpokoroa (long-headed one); a poetic name for fire is te tama a Ūpokoroa, (the son of Upokoroa) (Best 1982:244-245).

See also

• Māori mythology

References

• E. Best, Māori Religion and Mythology, Part 2. Dominion Museum Bulletin No.11. (Museum of New Zealand: Wellington) , 1982.