Devan Nair

Devan Nair BBM
Official portrait, 1981
3rd President of Singapore
In office 23 October 1981 – 28 March 1985
Prime Minister	Lee Kuan Yew
Preceded by	Benjamin Sheares
Succeeded by	Wee Kim Wee
Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress
In office 1970–1979
Preceded by	Seah Mui Kok
Succeeded by	Lim Chee Onn
In office 1961–1965
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Steve Nayagan
Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party
In office 11 October 1965 – 30 July 1967
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Goh Hock Guan
Secretary-General of the People's Action Party of Malaysia
In office 14 August 1965 – 9 September 1965
Preceded by	Lee Kuan Yew
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Member of the Singapore Parliament for Anson
In office 10 February 1979 – 13 October 1981
Preceded by	P. Govindaswamy
Succeeded by	J. B. Jeyaretnam
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Bangsar
In office 18 May 1964 – 20 March 1969
Preceded by	V. David
Succeeded by	Goh Hock Guan
Personal details
Born	Chengara Veetil Devan Nair (1923-08-05)5 August 1923 Jasin, Malacca, Straits Settlements (present-day Malacca, Malaysia)
Died	6 December 2005(2005-12-06) (aged 82) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Cause of death	Dementia
Resting place	White Chapel Memorial Park, Hamilton, Ontario[1]
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	People's Action Party (1954–1965) (1979–1981) Democratic Action Party (1965–1967) Malayan Communist Party (until 1950)
Spouse	Avadai Dhanam Lakshimi
Children	4
Alma mater	Victoria School
Occupation	Politician union leader

Chengara Veetil Devan Nair BBM (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005), also known as C. V. Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, was a Singaporean politician and union leader who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985.

Politically active in both Malaysia and Singapore, Nair was a communist as a young adult, having been affiliated with the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). He harboured anti-colonial sentiments and campaigned for the self-determination of Singapore, which was then a British colony, causing him to be detained by the British in 1951. In 1954, he joined the People's Action Party (PAP). He was detained again by the British in 1956 and remained so until the PAP won the 1959 general election and helped secure his release. In 1961, he founded the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), serving as its Secretary-General until 1965.

During his parliamentary career, Nair was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Malaysian constituency of Bangsar between 1964 and 1969 and for the Singapore constituency of Anson between 1979 and 1981. Prior to his presidency, Nair was Secretary-General of the People's Action Party of Malaya prior to Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia and continued to serve after the expulsion under its new name Democratic Action Party (DAP) which he founded until 1967.

Nair would soon return to Singapore and echoed his leftist beliefs by becoming involved in the labour movement, including serving as Secretary-General of the NTUC once more between 1970 and 1979, before taking up the presidency in 1981. He was succeeded by Wee Kim Wee on 2 September 1985. After his presidency in 1985, Nair retired from politics and briefly moved to the United States before moving again to live out his final years in Hamilton, Canada, when he died there at the age of 82 of dementia in 2005.