Hammer DeRoburt


Sir. Hammer DeRoburt was the founding President of the Republic of Nauru, and ruled the country for most of its first twenty years of independence.

Background and early career

Born 1922, DeRoburt was the grandson of a former Head Chief of Nauru and also had Banaban heritage, as his grandmother was from the island. After being educated on Nauru, he attended the Gordon Institute of Technology in Geelong, Australia. After returning to Nauru, he started working as a teacher.
During 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. 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. Local residents and European residents protested without success, whilst a petition to the 1953 Visiting Mission from the United Nations was also overlooked.
In 1955 elections he stood again in the Boe constituency and was elected to the Council. In 1956 the Council elected him Head Chief.

Presidency of post-independence Nauru

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.

Personal

He was given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.
DeRoburt is credited with introducing Australian rules football to Nauru, which became the national sport.
He died in Melbourne in 1992 from diabetes mellitus.