Kamisese Mara - Personal Life

Personal Life

Mara's interests included cricket, rugby, golf, athletics, and fishing. Mara is cousins with one of Fiji's famous cricketer's, I.L. Bula. He was a member of the Achilles Club in London, the Defence Club in Suva, and the United Oxford and Cambridge Universities Club in the United Kingdom. Mara's character was described as a combination of the forthright and the diplomatic, the inflexible and the dexterous, the imperious and the tolerant . He was known as a strong, imposing personality, but with an ability to forgive his opponents. A convert to Catholicism, Mara wrote of his faith: "Certainly it has been the rock on which I have been able to rely in good times and in bad, and it is the lodestone of my life." He wrote an autobiography, The Pacific Way: A Memoir. Mara was survived by his wife, Adi Lala (who herself died on July 20 the same year), and by two sons and five daughters; one son predeceased him.

Preceded by
Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau
President of Fiji
1993 to 2000
Succeeded by
Ratu Josefa Iloilo
Preceded by
Ratu Inoke Takiveikata
Vacant
Vice-President of Fiji‡
1992 - 1993
Succeeded by
Ratu Inoke Takiveikata
Preceded by
none
Vacant
Prime Minister of Fiji
1967 - 1987†
1987 - 1992
Succeeded by
Timoci Bavadra
Sitiveni Rabuka
Preceded by
?
Chairman of the Lau Provincial Council
? - 2004
Succeeded by
Ratu Josefa Basulu
Preceded by
Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba
Tui Nayau
1969 - 2004
Succeeded by
Awaiting Installation
Preceded by
Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna
Tui Lau
1964–2004
Succeeded by
Awaiting Installation
  • †From 1967 - 1970, the Prime Minister's title was Chief Minister.
  • ‡In Mara's time, the office of Vice-President was held simultaneously by two individuals; Mara's tenure coincided with that of Ratu Sir Josaia Tavaiqia (1992 to 1997)
Presidents of Fiji
  • Penaia Ganilau
  • Kamisese Mara
  • Josefa Iloilo
  • Epeli Nailatikau
Prime Ministers of Fiji
  • Mara
  • Bavadra
  • coup
  • Mara
  • Rabuka
  • Chaudhry
  • Momoedonu*
  • coup
  • Qarase
  • Momoedonu*
  • Qarase
  • Senilagakali*
  • Bainimarama†
* interim † military

Read more about this topic:  Kamisese Mara

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