Edward Cakobau

Ratu Sir Edward Tuivanuavou Tugi Cakobau, KBE, MC (21 December 1908 – 26 June 1973) was a Fijian chief and statesman.

Life
He was born on 21 December 1908 as the son of King George Tupou II of Tonga with his de facto mistress, Adi Litia Cakobau, who was a granddaughter of Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the King who forged the first unified Fijian state in 1871, before ceding the islands to the United Kingdom in 1874. Cakobau was a half-brother of Tonga's Queen Salote Tupou III.

He was educated at New Zealand's Wanganui Technical College, a public secondary school in Wanganui. School records show he attended from 1923 to 1928. After working as a schoolteacher, Cakobau commanded the Fiji Infantry Regiment in World War II, and was awarded the Military Cross. When Fiji became independent in 1970, Cakobau was knighted, becoming a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), Ratu Edward Cakobau was also a Freemason.

Ratu Edward played a major role in Fijian politics in the years that preceded and followed independence in 1970. As Minister for Labour in the first post-independence government, Cakobau had to contend with a docker's strike for a 31 percent pay rise, at the port of Suva in May 1971.

He was a Fijian cricketer who played a single first-class match for Auckland in the 1930/31 Plunket Shield and later made two first-class appearances for Fiji in 1948 against Otago and Auckland.

Family
Ratu Sir Edward Cakobau had four sons. The eldest son, Ratu Viliame Dreunimisimisi (1937–2000) was responsible for the first distillery in the South Pacific and was a former Minister for Tourism and Agriculture. In 1993, he joined six other Cabinet Ministers in bringing down the government by voting against the budget. The second son, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau has had a distinguished career in the military, diplomatic service, and politics, serving from 2001 to 2005 as Speaker of the House of Representatives and since 2009 as President of Fiji. His third son, Ratu Tu'uakitau Cokanauto has also been a Cabinet Minister and his fourth son was Ratu Keni Vuiyasawa. (The discrepancy of last names is due to the lack of widespread use of surnames in Fiji, especially in Cakobau's time. See Fijian naming conventions for details).

Cakobau died on 26 June 1973, aged 64 years.