Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna

Who is Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna?

Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna is widely regarded as the founding father of modern Fiji and the most influential iTaukei leader of the colonial era. Descended from the chiefly line of Lau through his connection to the Cakobau family, he became the first Fijian to study overseas, attending school in New Zealand before reading law at Wadham College, Oxford. During the First World War he served with the French Foreign Legion, was wounded, and was awarded the Medaille Militaire for bravery. Returning to Fiji, he rose through the colonial administration, eventually becoming Secretary for Fijian Affairs and Chairman of the Fijian Affairs Board in 1943, the most powerful office then open to an indigenous Fijian. He was the principal architect of the Native Land Trust Board (today the iTaukei Land Trust Board), which reorganized how Fijian communal land was administered and protected it from alienation. Sukuna died in 1958 aboard the ship Arcadia while travelling to England and was buried among the great chiefs of Lau at Tubou, Lakeba. Fiji still commemorates Ratu Sukuna Day in his honour.

Sources: Deryck Scarr, Ratu Sukuna: Soldier, Statesman, Man of Two Worlds (Macmillan/Fiji Times, 1980) · Wikipedia, "Lala Sukuna" · Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day, Fiji Government public holiday records