Hammer DeRoburt
Head Chief and First President of Nauru · 1922–1992
Who is Hammer DeRoburt?
Hammer DeRoburt was born on 25 September 1922 on Nauru and became one of the most influential figures in the island's modern history. Elected Head Chief of Nauru by the island's council in 1956, he emerged as the leading voice for Nauruan self-determination during the 1960s, when the island was administered as a United Nations trust territory by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In 1962 he told the UN Trusteeship Council that Nauruans desired full sovereignty, and he went on to lead the Nauru Talks of 1965-1967 that secured the terms of independence, including local control of the phosphate industry. Nauru became independent on 31 January 1968, and DeRoburt served as its first President, holding the office across four separate terms between 1968 and 1989. He remained a persistent advocate for the rehabilitation of Nauru's phosphate-mined land, ultimately taking Australia to the International Court of Justice in the case Certain Phosphate Lands in Nauru, a dispute he pursued until shortly before his death. He died in Melbourne, Australia, on 15 July 1992, and is remembered in Nauru as the founding father of the nation.
Sources: Hammer DeRoburt, statement to the UN Trusteeship Council (1962) · Australian Dictionary of Biography, "DeRoburt, Hammer" · Wikipedia: Hammer DeRoburt (biographical summary, retrieved 2026)