Ratu Finau

Death of Fijian High Chief

FIJI lost one of its highest chiefs and the Fijians one of their greatest men and leaders when Ratu Alifereti Finau died on April 3, at the age of 65, after a long illness.

Born in 1869, Ratu Finau was appointed Buli Lakeba in 1900 and the following year was appointed paramount chief of Lau. In 1896 he married Adi Ateca Mocei waqa, daughter of the chief of Bau. Of their five children the only surviving son, Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba, was until recently Assistant Native Commissioner at Lau.

Chief Finau’s family is one of the most illustrious in Fiji. He was the grandson of King Cakobau of Fiji and his father was related to the Lakeba family, which was closely connected with the Finaus of Tonga. The early history of Fiji is the story of the ceaseless warfare between Cakobau of Fiji and Finau, Maafu, and other Tongan nobles.

The ferocious sea-battles and conquests, the settlement of Tongans in Fiji islands and of the Fijians in Tongan islands, and the proximity of the two races, account for the intermarriage and close relation ship of some of the noble families of Fiji and Tonga. The name of Finau figures prominently in Mariner’s classic “Tonga” —and, indeed, of all early histories of Tonga and Fiji.