Angidi Verriah Chettiar CBE (அங்கிடி செட்டியார்) (29 April 1928 – 15 September 2010) was a

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably ...

politician who served twice as the second vice president of Mauritius until his death in September 2010.

Early life

Angidi Chettiar was born in

Aruppukkottai Aruppukottai is a town and a municipality in Virudhunagar district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Aruppukottai's classical name is "Sengattu Aravakotai". Aruppukottai is about 50 km from Madurai. It is in the middle of Madurai-Tuticorin ...

Virudhunagar Virudhunagar is a city and the administrative headquarter of the Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located southwest of the state capital Chennai and south of Madurai. Virudhunagar emerged as an important trade ...

district in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

. He came to Mauritius at the age of 10. His family were traders.

Political career

Angidi Chettiar throughout his political career was a staunch member of the

Mauritius Labour Party The Labour Party (french: Parti Travailliste, PTr) is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Mauritius. It is one of four main Mauritian political parties along, with the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), the Militant Socialist Mov ...

. He served the party for more than 50 years and held the position of treasurer of the party for a few decades. Before being appointed Vice-President of Mauritius, Angidi Chettiar was a member of the Legislative Assembly for many years, serving as Government Chief Whip and eventually Minister in the Government of Prime Minister

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (in traditional Hindi: Shivsagar Ram Gulam) (18 September 1900 – 15 December 1985; often referred to as ''Chacha Ramgoolam'' or ''SSR'') was a Mauritian physician, politician, and statesman. He served as the island's o ...

from 1980 to 1982. He served a first term as vice president from 1997 to 2002, and he briefly became acting president in 2002 when

Cassam Uteem Cassam Uteem, GCSK (born in Port Louis on 22 March 1941) is a Mauritian political figure who served as the second president of Mauritius from 30 June 1992 to 15 February 2002. He is the longest served president of Mauritius, having served for nea ...

resigned. However, Chettiar also resigned within days after refusing to sign a controversial anti-terrorism bill, saying that the bill was discriminatory against

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...

. The line of succession then bestowed the presidential powers and duties onto Supreme Court Justice

Ariranga Pillay Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay ( Tamil: ''அரி ரங்க கோவிந்தசாமி பிள்ளை''; born 14 June 1945) was the chief justice of Mauritius from 1996 until 2007, when he was succeeded by Y. K. J. Yeung Sik Yuen. ...

. After the come-back of

Navin Ramgoolam Navinchandra Ramgoolam, GCSK, FRCP (born 14 July 1947) is a Mauritian politician who was former Prime Minister of Mauritius from 2005 to 2014 and leader of the Labour Party (Mauritius). He was Leader of the Opposition from 1991 to 1995. He se ...

, current Leader of Mauritius Labour Party, to power, Chettiar was reappointed as Vice-President of Mauritius for a second term by the President of Mauritius,

Anerood Jugnauth Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean, GCSK, Padma Vibhushan, PV, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian politician and barrister who served both as President of Mauritius, President and Prime Minister of ...

, in 2007. He died while serving as vice president on 15 September 2010. He suffered from health problems for a few months before his death. He is survived by four sons and one daughter. Another son has already died.

Honours

*: **

Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean - GCSK, GOSK, CSK (Mauritius) - ribbon bar

Grand Officer of the Most Distinguished

Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean The Most Distinguished Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean is the highest distinct order of merit in the honours system of Mauritius established under the National Awards Act 1993. It was founded in 1992 to decorate people who have ma ...

(GOSK) *: ** Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon

Commander of the Most Excellent

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chettiar, Angidi Politicians from Madurai Presidents of Mauritius Vice-presidents of Mauritius Mauritian Hindus 2010 deaths Mauritian people of Tamil descent Mauritian Tamil politicians 1928 births Labour Party (Mauritius) politicians Mauritian politicians of Indian descent Grand Officers of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman