This article lists the colonial governors of Nauru , from the establishment of the German colonial presence in 1888 (as part of German New Guinea), through the Japanese occupation during World War II, until the independence of the Australian-administered Trust Territory of Nauru in 1968.
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
| Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reichskommissar (1888) | |||
| 2 October 1888 to 3 October 1888 |  | Franz Leopold Sonnenschein | |
| Bezirksamtleute (1888–1905) | |||
| 3 October 1888 to 14 May 1889 | | Robert Rasch | Acting |
| 14 May 1889 to 1892 | | Christian Hermann Johannsen | |
| 1892 to 1897 | | Friedrich "Fritz" Jung | |
| 1898 to 1905 | | Ludwig Kaiser | |
| Station chiefs (1906–1914) | |||
| 1 April 1906 to 1908 | | Konrad Geppert | |
| 1908 to 1911 | | Joseph Siegwanz | |
| 1911 to 1912 | | Karl Warnecke | |
| 1912 to 9 September 1914 | | Wilhelm Wostrack | First time |
| British Commanding Officer of the Landing Party (1914) | |||
| 9 September 1914 (hours) | | Myles Aldington Blomfield | |
| Station chief (1914) | |||
| 9 September 1914 to 6 November 1914 | | Wilhelm Wostrack | Second time |
| Commanding Officer of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force [AN&MEF] (1914) | |||
| 6 November 1914 |  | Colonel William Holmes | Killed in the Battle of Messines (1917) |
| Commanding Officer of the Australian Garrison Nauru (1914) | |||
| 6 November 1914 to 25 December 1914 | | Edward Creer Norrie | |
| Administrators (1914–1942) | |||
| 25 December 1914 to December 1917 | | Charles Rufus Marshall Workman | |
| December 1917 to 9 June 1921 | | Geoffrey Whistler Bingham Smith-Rewse | Aweida was the head chief of nauru |
| 10 June 1921 to 27 June 1927 |  | Thomas Griffiths | Daimon was the head chief of nauru |
| 27 June 1927 to 31 December 1932 | | William Augustin Newman | |
| 5 February 1929 to 1929 | Unknown | Acting for Newman | |
| 1 January 1933 to 17 January 1933 | Unknown | Acting | |
| 17 January 1933 to 31 August 1938 | | Rupert Clare Garsia | Timothy Detudamo was head chief of nauru |
| 1 September 1938 to 22 October 1938 | Unknown | Acting | |
| 22 October 1938 to 26 August 1942 |  | Frederick Royden Chalmers | Japanese prisoner 26 August 1942 – 25 March 1943; murdered in captivity |
| Japanese Military Commanders (1942–1945) | |||
| 26 August 1942 to 7 March 1943 | | Hiromi Nakayama | |
| 7 March 1943 to 13 July 1943 | | Takenao Takenouchi | Commander of the 67 Naval Guard Unit |
| 13 July 1943 to 13 September 1945 | | Hisayuki Soeda | |
| Australian Military Administrator (1945) | |||
| 13 September 1945 to 31 October 1945 | | Joseph Lawrence Andrew Kelly | |
| Administrators (1945–1968) | |||
| 1 November 1945 to 30 August 1949 | | Mark Ridgway | |
| 31 August 1949 to 20 December 1949 | | Harold Reeve | Acting |
| 20 December 1949 to 31 October 1952 |  | Robert Stanley Richards | |
| July 1952 to 30 June 1954 | | John Keith Lawrence | Acting (for Richards to 31 October 1952) |
| December 1953 to 30 June 1954 | | Keith Alan Read | Acting |
| 1 July 1954 to 21 June 1958 | | Reginald Sylvester Leydin | First time.Raymond Gadabu was head chief of Nauru. |
| 21 June 1958 to 30 April 1962 | | John Preston White | |
| 1 May 1962 to 31 May 1962 | | Frederick William McConaghy | Acting |
| 1 June 1962 to March 1966 | | Reginald Sylvester Leydin | Second time [1] |
| March 1966 to 19 May 1966 | Roy Edward Vizard | Acting [1] | |
| 19 May 1966 to 30 January 1968 | | Leslie Dudley King | [2] |
On 30 January 1968, Nauru achieved independence. For a list of heads of state after independence, see President of Nauru.
Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Micronesia, part of Oceania in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba of Kiribati, about 300 km (190 mi) to the east.
The history of human activity in Nauru, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, began roughly 3,000 years ago when clans settled the island.
The politics of Nauru take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nauru is the head of government of the executive branch. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo was a Nauruan politician who served as President of Nauru on seven separate occasions. During this time, he also served as a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Ubenide.
An administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a governor or a governor-general.
Hammer DeRoburt was the first President of the Republic of Nauru, and ruled the country for most of its first twenty years of independence.
Nauru, following independence from the United Kingdom, became a sovereign, independent republic on 31 January 1968. Nauru has established diplomatic relations with a number of nations, including most of its Pacific neighbors with which it maintains economic, cultural and administrative ties.
The president of Nauru is elected by Parliament from among its members, and is both the head of state and the head of government of Nauru. Nauru's unicameral Parliament has 19 members, with an electoral term of three years. Political parties only play a minor role in Nauru politics, and there have often been periods of instability in the Presidential office. Shifting allegiances among a small number of individuals can lead to frequent changes in the makeup of the government of the day, including the presidential position itself.
Lagumot Gagiemem Nimidere Harris was a political figure from the Pacific nation of the Republic of Nauru, and served as its President. He was a cousin of René Harris.
Australian rules football in Nauru dates back to the 1910s. Australian rules football became the national sport of Nauru after its independence in 1968. Today, its national participation rate is over 30%, the highest in the world.
The Parliament of Nauru has 19 members, elected for a three-year term in multi-seat constituencies. The President of Nauru is elected by the members of the Parliament. The number of seats was increased to 19 following elections in 2013.
Nauruan nationality law is regulated by the 1968 Constitution of Nauru, as amended; the Naoero Citizenship Act of 2017, and its revisions; custom; and international agreements entered into by the Nauruan government. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Nauru. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nauruan nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in the Nauru or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth to parents with Nauruan nationality. Naturalization is only available to those with some connection to the country, such as the spouse of a citizen; no amount of time living in Nauru will, by itself, make one eligible for naturalization.
The Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust (NPRT) was a sovereign wealth fund developed by the government of the Republic of Nauru in which the government invested money from the state-owned mining company, Nauru Phosphate Corporation. This money was then re-invested in a real estate portfolio, among other things, to provide the government with a reliable national income following the depletion of minable phosphates on the island. Although at one time successful, mismanagement and corruption later essentially bankrupted the fund, thus virtually bankrupting the entire Republic.
Shadlog Armait Bernicke is a Nauruan politician representing the Buada constituency in the Parliament of Nauru.
Elections for the Legislative Council for the Territory of Nauru were held for the first and only time on 22 January 1966.
Austin Bernicke was a Nauruan politician. He was a member of the first Local Government Council in 1951, then a member of Parliament after it was established in 1966, serving until his death in 1977. He also served as a cabinet minister from 1968 until 1976.
James Ategan Bop was a Nauruan politician. He served as a member of Parliament and its predecessors from 1951 to 1955 and then from 1959 until his death, and was Minister of Finance for most of the period between 1968 and 1978.
Ludwig Dowong Keke is a Nauruan politician, diplomat, and dentist. Keke was Nauru's first university graduate. He worked as a dentist in Australia before returning to Nauru to enter politics by 1967, first being elected to the Constitutional Convention, and then to the Legislative Assembly. He served in the parliament until 1972. After 1977, he served as a dental officer in Western Australia. He then served as a dental officer for the South Pacific Commission in 1981. He returned to Nauru and served three terms in the parliament between 1986 and 2000, serving as speaker of parliament in his final term. By 2004, he was a diplomat to Fiji, and in 2007 he became the first Nauruan ambassador to Taiwan. He served in that capacity until 2016.
Samuel Edwin Tsitsi was a Nauruan politician.
Roy Demanganuwe Degoregore was a Nauruan politician.
