A prominent Indo-Fijian lawyer and politician, A. D. Patel was born in Gujarat and educated at the Gujarat College in Ahemdabad. After a period at the London School of Economics, Patel graduated as a barrister in London and proceeded to Fiji in 1928 where he set up a legal practice in Suva. In the 1930s he moved to Ba and then Nadi, where he remained for the rest of his life. Patel was elected President of the Fiji Indian Congress and the Indian Association in 1930. He and his friend Swami Rudranandra were principal leaders of the growers in the 1943 sugar strike in Fiji. Patel was a member of the Fiji Legislative Council 1944-1950 and 1963-1969. He married Patricia Seymour in 1934 but the couple separated in 1934 and were divorced in 1943. In 1943 Patel married Leela Ben, the daughter of Professor B. N. Patel. (Reference: Brij V. Lal, A Vision for Change: A D Patel and the Politics of Fiji, 1997.)

Papers held by Mrs Patel: general documents, mainly letters, some speeches and leaflets, 1936-1970; personal files as a member of Parliament; letters of condolence to his family on his death; two of his early notebooks; an album of photographs and letters compiled by his first wife, Patricia; case files compiled for his representation of Banabans at the United Nations, 1968-69; and working papers for the Fiji Parliamentary Committee on the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Act, 1969.

Papers held by Professor Lal: a complete set of A. D. Patel’s speeches and writings, a file on the 1943 sugar strike in Fiji, compiled by Swami Rudrananda, and a set of the key Fiji sugar industry inquiry reports and awards, 1945-1970.

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