Cecyl Holliday

Cecyl Holliday (who signed her contributions to The Mid-Pacific Magazine ​“Mlle. Cecyl Holliday”) was a French teacher at Maui High — the first English-speaking high-school in Honolulu, inaugurated in 1913 –, an interpreter and a trustee of the Pan-Pacific Union.

In 1926, she was awarded in Honolulu the Annamite Order of Kim Boi, a distinction honoring ​“ladies of special merit or exceptional services”, from the Emperor of Annam. The decoration was presented to her by the Consul-General of France, Auguste Marques, for her contribution to the success of the first Pan-Pacific Food Conservation Conference.

She was invited to visit Indochina in 1929 and traveled to Angkor. Ten years earlier, Cecyl Holliday had composed the ​“Alma Mater” (school song) of Maui High, still sung by students nowadays during school ceremonies.