Person

Michael Joseph Savage

1872–1940 · 20th century

Michael Joseph Savage was the first Labour prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1935 until his death in 1940. Born in Australia, he led a government that built state housing, guaranteed prices for dairy farmers and passed the Social Security Act of 1938, laying the foundations of the welfare state. He took New Zealand into the Second World War alongside Britain in 1939.

Michael Joseph Savage
Image: Spencer Digby · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Dominion of New Zealand

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Michael Joseph Savage. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/michael-joseph-savage
MLA
“Michael Joseph Savage.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/michael-joseph-savage. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Michael Joseph Savage.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/michael-joseph-savage.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Michael Joseph Savage’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/michael-joseph-savage (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻