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A survivor of the wartime Japanese deportation of all Nauruans to Truk ( 1942- 1946), he was elected to the Local Government Council of Nauru in the 1950s; then elected head chief ( 1955), he was the chief negotiator on phosphate royalties with the colonial power, Australia, which administered the island as a United Nations trust.

DeRoburt led the country to independence on January 31, 1968, and was president for most of the period until August 17, 1989. In December 1976 younger politicians gained a majority and installed Bernard Dowiyogo as president, but DeRoburt returned to power in May 1978. He was also out of office for two short periods in September and December 1986.

He was given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du.

He died in MelbourneAlternate meanings: Melbourne (disambiguation Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia, with a population of 3,366,542 (census 2001). The city's name is pronounced "MEL-buhn" ( SAMPA: ["m in 1992.