Mamarou Nakamura (1939/194025 April 1992) was a Palauan jurist. Nakamura was a founder of

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

's court system—which he based on the judiciary of the United States—and served as the first chief justice of Palau from 1981 to his death in 1992. He was the first Micronesian person appointed to serve as a justice of the High Court of the

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. The Imperial Japanese South Seas Mandate had been seized by the U.S. during the Pacifi ...

, from 27 October 1977 to 1988. Nakamura was born on

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. ...

, Palau, in 1939 or 1940, and raised in Japan. He received a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

in 1965 and a

bachelor of laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

Willamette University College of Law The Willamette University School of Law (previously known as the Willamette University College of Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Willamette University. Located in Salem, Oregon, Salem, Oregon, and founded in 1883, Wil ...

in 1969. From July 1971 to August 1972, he was acting legislative counsel for the

Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Congress of Micronesia was a bicameral legislature in Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1964 to 1979. History The Congress was established on 28 September 1964, when the US Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall issued order no. ...

, and a deputy attorney general from 1972 until he was elevated to the bench in 1977. He died on 25 April 1992 aged 52 at his home in

Koror Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state. History In the oral tradition of ...

and was buried on Peleliu.

References

1992 deaths 20th-century births 20th-century Palauan people Chief justices of Palau People from Koror People from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands Willamette University College of Law alumni Year of birth missing {{Oceania-law-bio-stub