Bernard Dowiyogo

Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo (14 February 1946 – 9 March 2003) was a Nauruan politician who served as President of Nauru on seven occasions between 1976 and 2003. During this time, he also served as a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Ubenide.

Background and early career Dowiyogo was born in Nauru on 14 February 1946, to a Japanese father and a I-Kirbati mother. A lawyer by trade, he first became an elected member of Nauru's 18-seat parliament in 1973. Particularly in his earlier years in the Parliament of Nauru Dowiyogo was seen as an opponent of Nauru's first post-independence President, Hammer DeRoburt. Dowiyogo founded the Nauru Institute of Media and Communications which operated between 1984 and 1996 but due to financial difficulties was closed in 1997.

President of Nauru He served his first term as President from 1976 to 1978 after ousting Hammer DeRoburt. Over the next 25 years, Dowiyogo served as President several times, for periods as long as six years (1989–1995) and as short as 8 days (in January 2003). He was the youngest president in Nauru.

In 1990, Dowiyogo was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

In the 1990s, when phosphate reserves dwindled and the economy was on the cusp of bankruptcy, Nauru controversially turned to offshore banking and passport sales in order to generate income. As a result, Dowiyogo was forced to yield the presidency to Rene Harris after a vote of no confidence at a time when Nauru was at the center of controversy. Dowiyogo eventually closed Nauru's offshore banks in 2003 when the US alleged they were used for money laundering.

Death He died in office on March 9, 2003 (having been president on this occasion since January 2003) at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. from heart complications brought on by his struggle with diabetes, a common ailment on Nauru. At the time of the deterioration of his final illness, he had been engaged in protracted negotiations with the United States Government, having traveled to the United States a few weeks prior before he would be treated at the Washington D.C.-based hospital for his heart ailment. They had eight children: Clara Augusta Alefaio (née Dowiyogo) who served at the Nauru education Department but now resides in New Zealand; Valdon Kape Dowiyogo, who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru; Jesaulenko Dowiyogo, who served as diplomat and later Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nauru Fisheries and Marine Resources Authority; Junior Dowiyogo who served as Commissioner for Police in the Nauru Police Force Peter Jason Dowiyogo who worked at the Nauru Post Office; David Dowiyogo who is employed at the Republic of Nauru Hospital; Jeff Dowiyogo who currently resides in Australia; and Zita Dowiyogo who now serves at the Nauru Immigration Office.