Vanizette was born in Montendre in the Charente-Maritime department of France.[1] After serving in the French Navy he moved to Tahiti where he worked as a secretary at the Chamber of Agriculture and married a sister of politician Jean-Baptiste Céran-Jérusalémy.[2] In 1952 he became general secretary of the Polynesian Federation of Trade unions (CFTC) and became head of the social insurance fund (CPF).[2]
In June 1975 he was re-elected as President of the Assembly after forming a new majority with the backing of pro-autonomy parties.[6] In November 1975 the majority shifted again to favour the anti-autonomy Gaullist faction headed by Gaston Flosse.[7] When Flosse was in Paris, he called a meeting of the Assembly in the middle of the night to reject the government's proposal for increased integration with France and to call for new elections.[7] When the French government refused, pro-autonomy MPs and their supporters occupied the Assembly building, while Flosse's supporters formed their own Assembly and elected him president.[8][9]
At the 1977 election Vanizette ran as part of the pro-autonomy United Front, which won a majority.[10] He was elected president of the Assembly[11] and re-elected twice more in the next five years, alternating with John Teariki. In 1981 he formed the Social Democratic Party with Maco Tevane, with which he contested the 1982 election.[2] After failing to be re-elected[12] he retired from political life.[2]
He died at Jean-Prince Hospital in Pirae in November 2001.[1]
^"New move on autonomy for Fr. Polynesia". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 42, no. 8. 1 August 1971. p. 14. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"TAHITIANS WANT THEIR VOICE HEARD". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 46, no. 7. 1 July 1975. p. 5. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ ab"French Polynesia's Year of Decision". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 47, no. 1. 1 January 1976. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"TAHITI'S DOUBLE CHECKMATE". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 47, no. 8. 1 August 1976. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Poll out-manoeuvres protestors". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 14 June 1976. p. 6. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Sanford wins in Tahiti". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 48, no. 8. 1 August 1977. p. 17. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"LA NOUVELLE ASSEMBLEE A TAHITI". Le Courrier Australien. 1 July 1977. p. 3. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Wrecks, safe returns in May 23 poll". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 53, no. 7. 1 July 1982. p. 22. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.