{{Short description|Fijian politician}} {{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox Politician (general) | name = Satendra Nandan | title = | term_start = | term_end = | successor = | title2 = | term_start2 = | term_end2 = | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | title3 = Minister of Health and Social Welfare | term_start3 = 1987 | term_end3 = 14 May 1987 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | title4 = | term_start4 = | term_end4 = | predecessor4 = | successor4 = | constituency_MP10 = Suva Rural Indian | parliament10 = Fijian | term_start10 = 11 April 1987 | term_end10 = 14 May 1987 | predecessor10 = | successor10 = ''None'' (Constitution abrogated) | constituency_MP11 = Nasinu - Vunidawa Indian | parliament11 = Fijian | term_start11 = 17 July 1982 | term_end11 = 11 April 1987 | predecessor11 = | successor11 = James Shankar Singh | majority11 = | birth_date = | birth_place = Nadi, Fiji | death_date = | death_place = | party = National Federation Party <br /> Fiji Labour Party | spouse = | profession = Academic | footnotes = }} '''Satendra Nandan''' is an Indo-Fijian academic, writer, and former politician. He is one of Fiji's leading writers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fijisun.com.fj/2012/02/29/nandan-gets-aussie-fellowship/ |title=Nandan gets Aussie fellowship |publisher=Fiji Sun |date=29 February 2012 |access-date=10 April 2023 |archive-date=15 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415062404/https://fijisun.com.fj/2012/02/29/nandan-gets-aussie-fellowship/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Early life == Nandan was born in Nadi, Fiji.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.themodernnovel.org/oceania/fiji/nandan/ |title=Satendra Nandan |publisher=The Modern Novel |access-date=10 April 2023}}</ref> After completing his secondary education he studied at Delhi University, from where he obtained his degree in engineering.<ref name=PIM1987a/> He subsequently obtained a master of Arts from the University of Leeds and a PhD from Australian National University.<ref name=PIM1987a/> He taught at various schools in India, including the all-boys' boarding school The Doon School in Dehradun.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fijisun.com.fj/2014/10/25/its-time-goodbye-comrades/|title=It's Time: Goodbye, COMRADES|website=Fiji Sun|date=25 October 2014|author=Satendra Nandan|access-date=29 October 2014|archive-date=29 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029040113/http://fijisun.com.fj/2014/10/25/its-time-goodbye-comrades/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He joined the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji in 1969.
== Political career == Nandan was first elected to the House of Representatives of Fiji as a National Federation Party candidate at the 1982 Fijian general election.<ref name=PIM1987a/> He was appointed to Sidiq Koya's shadow cabinet as education spokesperson, but resigned in 1985 as the National Federation Party began to fragment.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-335176171/view?sectionId=nla.obj-339988379|title=Political mayhem rules again in Fiji'S NFP |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=56 |issue=6 |page=13 |date=1 June 1985 |access-date=10 April 2023 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He subsequently resigned from the party and became an independent.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-335543010/view?sectionId=nla.obj-340055292 |title=Realignment of Fiji party forces is on |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=57 |issue=3 |page=22 |date=1 March 1986 |access-date=10 April 2023 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He contested the 1987 election as a candidate for the Fiji Labour Party, and was re-elected. He was appointed Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women's Affairs in the government of Timoci Bavadra,<ref name=PIM1987a>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-338111117/view?sectionId=nla.obj-341610587 |title=Fiji's younger and smaller cabinet |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=58 |issue=6 |page=20 |date=1 June 1987 |access-date=10 April 2023 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/fiji/the-fiji-times/20200501/281814286022771|title=The Four Coups in Fiji|website=Fiji Times|date=1 May 2020|via=PressReader}}</ref> but was removed from office by the 1987 Fijian coups d'état.
== Later life ==
After the 1987 coup, he migrated to Australia and took up a position at the Australian National University in Canberra. He worked as a professor of literature and director of the Centre for Writing. He returned to Fiji in 2005, where he helped establish the University of Fiji.<ref name=UCBio>{{cite web |url=https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/cccr/people/nandan-satendra |title=Nandan, Prof. Satendra |date=19 August 2013 |publisher=University of Canberra |access-date=10 April 2023 |archive-date=10 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410040558/https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/cccr/people/nandan-satendra |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Following the 2006 Fijian coup d'état he was appointed as interim chair of the military regime's Media Industry Development Authority, but withdrew for health reasons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/191744/11m-edia-outlets-in-fiji-register-with-media-industry-development-authority |title=11 media outlets in Fiji register with Media Industry Development Authority |publisher=RNZ |date=31 July 2010 |access-date=10 April 2023}}</ref> In 2012 he was appointed to the Constitutional Commission which drafted the 2013 Constitution of Fiji.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/203105/fiji-regime-announces-constitutional-consultation-process |title=Fiji regime announces constitutional consultation process |publisher=RNZ |date=9 March 2012 |access-date=10 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/206148/fiji-constitutional-commission-sworn-in |title=Fiji Constitutional Commission sworn in |publisher=RNZ |date=25 July 2012 |access-date=10 April 2023}}</ref>
== Publications ==
* {{cite book | last = Nandan | first = Satendra P. | title =1987: Six Nights in May - Death in Paradise | publisher = USP Press | location = Suva, Fiji | year = 2018 | id = 0-85174-111-8 | isbn = 978-9-82010-984-1 | oclc = 1088425955 }} * {{cite book | last = Nandan | title = Requiem for a rainbow : a Fijian Indian story | publisher = Pacific Indian Publications, Canberra | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-64641-589-1 | oclc = 1057994370 }} * {{cite book | last = Nandan | first = Satendra P. | title = Faces in a village : poetry from Fiji | publisher = Pacific Indian Publications | year = 1991 | location = Adelaide | isbn = | oclc = 946490038 }} * {{cite book | last = Nandan | first = Satendra P. | title = Lines across black waters | publisher = Centre for Research in the New Literatures in English | year = 1977 | location = Adelaide | isbn = 0-85174-111-8 | oclc = 38816534 }} * {{cite book | last = Nandan | first = Satendra P. | title = Faces in a village: Poetry from Fiji | publisher = | year = 2000 | location = Sydney | isbn = }}
*{{cite book | last = Nandan | first = Kavita | title = Stolen Worlds: Fijiindian Fragments | publisher = Ivy Press International | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-9757223-0-1 }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nandan, Satendra}} Category:Indo-Fijian writers Category:Fiji Labour Party politicians Category:Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:The Doon School faculty Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds Category:National Federation Party politicians Category:Health ministers of Fiji Category:Academic staff of the University of the South Pacific Category:Academic staff of the University of Fiji Category:Academic staff of the Australian National University