Personal Life
Mara's interests included cricket, rugby, golf, athletics, and fishing. Mara is cousins with one of Fiji's famous cricketer's, I.L. Bula. He was a member of the Achilles Club in London, the Defence Club in Suva, and the United Oxford and Cambridge Universities Club in the United Kingdom. Mara's character was described as a combination of the forthright and the diplomatic, the inflexible and the dexterous, the imperious and the tolerant . He was known as a strong, imposing personality, but with an ability to forgive his opponents. A convert to Catholicism, Mara wrote of his faith: "Certainly it has been the rock on which I have been able to rely in good times and in bad, and it is the lodestone of my life." He wrote an autobiography, The Pacific Way: A Memoir. Mara was survived by his wife, Adi Lala (who herself died on July 20 the same year), and by two sons and five daughters; one son predeceased him.
| Preceded by Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau |
President of Fiji 1993 to 2000 |
Succeeded by Ratu Josefa Iloilo |
| Preceded by Ratu Inoke Takiveikata Vacant |
Vice-President of Fiji‡ 1992 - 1993 |
Succeeded by Ratu Inoke Takiveikata |
| Preceded by none Vacant |
Prime Minister of Fiji 1967 - 1987† 1987 - 1992 |
Succeeded by Timoci Bavadra Sitiveni Rabuka |
| Preceded by ? |
Chairman of the Lau Provincial Council ? - 2004 |
Succeeded by Ratu Josefa Basulu |
| Preceded by Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba |
Tui Nayau 1969 - 2004 |
Succeeded by Awaiting Installation |
| Preceded by Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna |
Tui Lau 1964–2004 |
Succeeded by Awaiting Installation |
- †From 1967 - 1970, the Prime Minister's title was Chief Minister.
- ‡In Mara's time, the office of Vice-President was held simultaneously by two individuals; Mara's tenure coincided with that of Ratu Sir Josaia Tavaiqia (1992 to 1997)
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