Hammer DeRoburt

Hammer DeRoburt GCMG OBE (25 September 1922 – 15 July 1992) was the first President of the Republic of Nauru, and ruled the country for most of its first twenty years of independence.

His Excellency
Hammer DeRoburt
GCMG, OBE
Hammer DeRoburt, 1968
1st President of Nauru
In office
17 May 1968[1] – 22 December 1976
DeputyBuraro Detudamo
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byBernard Dowiyogo
In office
15 May 1978 – 17 September 1986
DeputyBuraro Detudamo
Preceded byLagumot Harris
Succeeded byKennan Adeang
In office
1 October 1986 – 12 December 1986
DeputyBuraro Detudamo
Preceded byKennan Adeang
Succeeded byKennan Adeang
In office
22 December 1986 – 17 August 1989
DeputyBuraro Detudamo
Preceded byKennan Adeang
Succeeded byKenos Aroi
Chairman of the Council of State
In office
31 January 1968 – 17 May 1968
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byOffice Abolished
Member of the Nauruan Parliament
for Boe
In office
31 January 1968 – 15 July 1992
Preceded byConstituency Established
Succeeded byMichael Aroi
Personal details
Born(1922-09-25)25 September 1922
Nauru
Died15 July 1992(1992-07-15) (aged 69)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
SpouseLukale Rowena Harris

Background and early career

DeRoburt was born in Nauru on 25 September 1922. He was the son of DeRoburt and Eidumunang; his maternal grandfather Daimon was the island's head chief from 1920 to 1930.[2] He also had Banaban heritage, as his grandmother was from the island.[3] DeRoburt was a member of the Iruwa tribe.[4] He was raised in Boe District.[2] After being educated on Nauru, he attended the Gordon Institute of Technology in Geelong, Australia.[3] After returning to Nauru, he started working as a teacher.[3]

During the Japanese occupation of Nauru he was deported to Truk by the Japanese, along with most of the Nauruan population. When he returned to Nauru in 1946 he started working at the Department of Education.[3] He decided to stand in the first elections to the Local Government Council in 1951, and although he gained enough support to be nominated as a candidate in the Boe constituency, he was disqualified due to irregularities in his nomination.[5] Local residents and European residents protested without success, whilst a petition to the 1953 Visiting Mission from the United Nations was also overlooked.[5]

In 1955 elections he stood again in the Boe constituency and was elected to the Council.[3] In 1956, the Council elected him the last Head Chief of Nauru.[5]

Presidency of post-independence Nauru
DeRobert at the Pacific Islands Forum, 5 August 1971, Wellington

DeRoburt led the country to independence on 31 January 1968 and was president for most of the period until 17 August 1989. In December 1976, younger politicians gained a majority and installed Bernard Dowiyogo 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.

In his final term, DeRoburt's government filed a case against Australia in the International Court of Justice for not rehabilitating mined-out areas of the island. His last public appearance was in the ICJ hearing in November 1991.[6]

Personal

He was given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.

DeRoburt is credited with popularising Australian rules football to Nauru, which became the national sport.

He died in Melbourne in 1992[6] from diabetes mellitus. He was given a state funeral, and buried in Boe Cemetery.[7]

References
  1. "Nauru Government Gazette, No. 15 (20 May 1968)". paclii. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. Pollock, Nancy (2020). "DeRoburt, Hammer (1922–1992)". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  3. Nancy Viviani (1970) Nauru: Phosphate and Political Progress Australian National University Press, p. 107
  4. Cain, M. B. (25 November 1992). "BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES" (PDF). Republic of Nauru Government Gazette (81): 3.
  5. Viviani, p108
  6. Bain, Kenneth (22 July 1992). "Obituary: Hammer DeRoburt". The Independent. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  7. Pollock, Nancy. "DeRoburt, Hammer (1922–1992)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
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