HE
Maggabi "Hammer" DeRoburt,
KBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
(September 25, 1922 – July 15, 1992) was the founding
PresidentThe president of Nauru is elected by Parliament from amongst its members. He is both the head of state and head of government.-List of Presidents since independence:...
of the Republic of
NauruNauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km to the east...
, and ruled the country for most of its first twenty years of independence.
DeRoburt had grown up in Nauru; he early was nicknamed "Hammer" and later officially changed his birth name Maggabi to the nickname "Hammer". A survivor of the wartime Japanese deportation of all Nauruans to
TrukChuuk — formerly Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, and Lugulus — is an island group in the south western part of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia , along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Chuuk is the most populous of the FSM's...
(1942-1946), he was elected to the Local Government Council of Nauru in the 1950s; then elected head chief (1955).
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Hammer DeRoburt' Start a new discussion about 'Hammer DeRoburt' Answer questions from other users |
HE
Maggabi "Hammer" DeRoburt,
KBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
(September 25, 1922 – July 15, 1992) was the founding
PresidentThe president of Nauru is elected by Parliament from amongst its members. He is both the head of state and head of government.-List of Presidents since independence:...
of the Republic of
NauruNauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km to the east...
, and ruled the country for most of its first twenty years of independence.
Background and early career
DeRoburt had grown up in Nauru; he early was nicknamed "Hammer" and later officially changed his birth name Maggabi to the nickname "Hammer". A survivor of the wartime Japanese deportation of all Nauruans to
TrukChuuk — formerly Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, and Lugulus — is an island group in the south western part of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia , along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Chuuk is the most populous of the FSM's...
(1942-1946), he was elected to the Local Government Council of Nauru in the 1950s; then elected head chief (1955). He was the chief negotiator on phosphate royalties with the colonial power,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, which administered the island as a United Nations trust.
Presidency of post-independence Nauru
DeRoburt led the country to independence on January 31, 1968, and was president for most of the period until August 17, 1989. In December 1976, younger politicians gained a majority and installed
Bernard DowiyogoHE Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo was President of the Republic of Nauru.-Background and early career:He first became an elected member of Nauru's 18-seat parliament in 1973...
as president, but DeRoburt returned to power in May 1978. He was also out of office for two short periods in September and December 1986.
Personal
He was given an honorary knighthood by Queen
Elizabeth IIElizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
in 1982.
DeRoburt is credited with introducing
Australian rules footballAustralian football, also commonly referred to as Australian rules football, football, or Aussie rules, colloquially as footy, and historically as Australasian football or Victorian football, is a variant of football played between two teams of 18 players, plus four interchange players, outdoors on...
to Nauru, which became the
national sportA national sport is a sport or game that is considered to be an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation. In American English the term national pastime is often used. Some sports are de facto National sport while others are defined by law....
.
He died in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
in 1992.
See also
- Politics of Nauru
Politics of Nauru takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nauru is the head of government of the executive branch. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the parliament...