Cakobau was born in December 1908, the son of
King George Tupou II of
Tonga and his mistress Adi Litia Cakobau, who was a granddaughter of
Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the first
King of Fiji. He was a half-brother of Queen
Salote Tupou III of Tonga. He later attended
Wadham College, Oxford to study colonial administration. During
World War II he served in the Solomon Islands, for which he was awarded the
Military Cross. He later returned to military service during the
Malayan Emergency, serving in
Malaya in 1953 and 1954, during which he became commanding officer of the Fiji Battalion. Following the elections, he was appointed Member for Commerce, Industry and Tourism. In 1967 he became Minister for Commerce, Industry and Labour. He was knighted in the
1971 New Year Honours. In the
1972 elections he ran for the Fijian seat in the Suva East
national constituency and was elected to the House of Representatives. He was subsequently appointed
Deputy Prime Minister by
Kamisese Mara. Cakobau died on 25 June 1973, and was buried on Bau on 29 June. He had four sons; the eldest, Viliame Dreunimisimisi (1939–2000) was responsible for the first
distillery in the South Pacific and served as Minister for Tourism and Agriculture. The second son,
Epeli Nailatikau (born 1941) was also a politician, serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives and later President. His third son,
Tu'uakitau Cokanauto (1947–2023) was also a minister; the fourth son was Keni Vuiyasawa. ==See also==