Lala Sukuna
Ratu Sir Josefa Lalabalavu Vanayaliyali Sukuna KCMG KBE (22 April 1888 – 30 May 1958) was a Fijian chief, scholar, soldier, and statesman.
After joining the Audit Office as a clerk at an early age, Ratu Madraiwiwi had steadily worked his way up through the civil service, establishing connections along the way that were later to prove decisive in the life of his son.
Although he was not accorded a chiefly title from Bau his birthplace, he was installed as the second Tui Lau in 1938 following the traditional process of consultation between the Yavusa Vuanirewa and the endorsement of the Tui Nayau, Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba III following the passing of Ratu Alifereti Finau Ulukalala as referenced in the TRY Lakeba.
Although Sukuna was an indigenous Fijian, his father enrolled him at the Wairuku Indian School in Ra, founded in 1898 by Pandit Badri Maharaj, who later served from 1917 to 1929 as the first Indo-Fijian member of Fiji's Legislative Council (the forerunner to the present Parliament.
Andrew was a colourful character, an Oxford-educated Anglican clergyman who had converted to Roman Catholicism and then back again, before sailing for the mission field in Fiji.
However, Ratu Madraiwiwi was personally acquainted with the colonial Governor, Sir Francis Henry May, and in 1911 asked him to try to arrange for his son to study at a British university on the grounds that he had passed the matriculation exams at Wanganui Collegiate School.
May's influence persuaded the British Colonial Secretary, reluctantly, to grant Sukuna a one-year leave of absence from his responsibilities in Fiji to study history at Wadham College, Oxford, in 1913.
Believing that Fijians would never gain the respect of their British rulers, without proving their worth on the battlefield, Sukuna enlisted in the French Foreign Legion instead.
He returned to France the following year, however, with the Native Transport Detachment, a newly formed contingent assisting the British Army.
Sukuna's education complemented his lineage: he was a descendant of Fijian and Lauan royalty, and no other chief held a university degree.
The British government had completely reversed its former position of not permitting natives to enlist, and the Fijian Battalion, commanded by Ratu Edward Cakobau (a relative of Sukuna's) fought with distinction.
At long last, Fijians had begun to earn the respect of the British authorities, and after the war, they began steps towards fostering self-government in Fiji.
The then colonial governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, proposed establishing a central body to hold the land in trust and lease it to willing farmers on terms that would be uniform throughout Fiji.
As early as 1933, Ratu Sukuna had recognised this problem, and had told the Great Council of Chiefs, "We regard the Indian desire for more permanent tenancy as a natural and legitimate consequence an agricultural community settling in any country.
The landowners were being asked to surrender, forever, the control of their land, and entrust its administration to a central authority that would act in the national interest, as well as that of the owners.
Finally, after a long and vigorous debate, the Great Council of Chiefs approved the scheme in what Sir Philip Mitchell, the then Governor, described as "one of the greatest acts of faith and trust in colonial history."
Sukuna was created a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1939, and awarded a knighthood in 1946, in recognition of his services to Fiji.
Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna was married twice, first to Adi Maraia Vosawale (1903–1956) in 1928, and later to Maca Likutabua (1934–2000) in September 1957,[1] eight months before his death.
Although he did not live to see Fiji gain its independence (in 1970), the role he played in the pre-independence years was crucial; without him, there might not have been a Fijian state or its creation would almost certainly have been delayed.
