Personal Life
As a chief by birth through his paternal side via his maternal grandmother who is the granddaughter of Ratu Seru Cakobau, Epeli Nailatikau has the title of Ratu. He is the second son of Ratu Edward Cakobau, who commanded the Fijian Battalion in World War II. He is also a great-great-grandson of Seru Epenisa Cakobau from his Granddaughter Adi Litia Cakobau, the first monarch to rule over a unified Fijian kingdom after conquering all the tribes of Fiji and uniting them under his leadership, and who ceded the Fiji Islands to the United Kingdom in 1874. In addition, he is a grandson of King George Tupou II of Tonga. His father is the product of issue between HRH King Tupou III and Adi Litia Cakobau who was sent to Tonga as a trial bride to the King but was later rejected as they could not wed under the normal Tongan constitution.
In 1981, he married Adi Koila Mara, the second daughter of modern Fiji's former Prime Minister and President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. Adi Koila is also a politician in her own right; like her husband, she has served as a Member of Parliament, Cabinet minister, and, most recently, Senator. They have two children: a son, Kamisese Vuna (named after Adi Koila's father), and a daughter, Litia Cakobau.
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“A man lives not only his personal life, as an individual, but also, consciously or unconsciously, the life of his epoch and his contemporaries.”
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