Editing Devan Nair (section)

{{Short description|President of Singapore from 1981 to 1985}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{family name hatnote|Chengara Veetil|lang=Malayali}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Devan Nair
| native_name         = 
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|list=[[Bintang Bakti Masyarakat|BBM]]}}
| image               = Devan Nair, 1953 (3x4 crop).png
| caption             = Nair in 1953
| image_size          = 200
| order               = 3rd
| office              = President of Singapore
| term_start          = 23 October 1981
| term_end            = 28 March 1985
| primeminister       = [[Lee Kuan Yew]]
| predecessor         = [[Benjamin Sheares]]
| successor           = [[Wee Kim Wee]]
| office1             = Secretary-General of the<br />[[National Trades Union Congress]]
| term_start1         = 1970
| term_end1           = 1979
| predecessor1        = Seah Mui Kok
| successor1          = Lim Chee Onn
| term_start2         = 1961
| term_end2           = 1965
| predecessor2        = ''Position established''
| successor2          = Steve Nayagan
| office3             = Secretary-General of the<br />[[Democratic Action Party]]
| term_start3         = 11 October 1965
| term_end3           = 30 July 1967
| predecessor3        = ''Position established''
| successor3          = [[Goh Hock Guan]]
| office4             = Secretary-General of the<br />[[People's Action Party]]<br />of [[Malaysia]]
| term_start4         = 14 August 1965
| term_end4           = 9 September 1965
| predecessor4        = Lee Kuan Yew
| successor4          = ''Position abolished''
| constituency_MP5    = [[Anson Constituency|Anson]]
| parliament5         = Singapore
| term_start5         = 10 February 1979
| term_end5           = 13 October 1981
| predecessor5        = [[Perumal Govindaswamy]]
| successor5          = [[Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam|J. B. Jeyaretnam]]
| constituency_MP6    = [[Bangsar (federal constituency)|Bangsar]]
| parliament6         = Malaysian
| term_start6         = 18 May 1964
| term_end6           = 20 March 1969
| predecessor6        = [[V. David]]
| successor6          = [[Goh Hock Guan]]
| birth_name          = Chengara Veetil Devan Nair
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1923|08|05|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Jasin (town)|Jasin]], [[Malacca]], [[Straits Settlements]] <small>(present-day Malacca, Malaysia)</small>
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2005|12|06|1923|08|05|df=yes}}
| death_cause         = [[Dementia]]
| death_place         = [[Hamilton, Ontario]], Canada
| resting_place       = White Chapel Memorial Park, Hamilton, Ontario<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theindependent.sg/of-best-friends-bitter-foes-and-the-bane-of-sailing-through-a-fog/|title=Of best friends, bitter foes and the bane of sailing through a fog|work=The Independent Singapore |date=11 April 2016}}</ref>
| party               = [[Independent politician|Independent]] (1981–2005)
| otherparty          = [[People's Action Party]]<br />(1954–1965, 1979–1981)<br />[[Democratic Action Party (Malaysia)|Democratic Action Party]]<br />(1965–1967)<br />[[Malayan Communist Party]]<br />(until 1950)
| alma_mater          = [[Victoria School]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Avadai Dhanam Lakshimi]]|August 1953|18 April 2005|end=d}}
| children            = 4; including [[Janadas Devan|Janadas]]
| occupation          = {{hlist|Politician|union leader}}
| width               = 220
}}
'''Chengara Veetil Devan Nair''' {{postnominals|list=[[Bintang Bakti Masyarakat|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 [[Singapore in the Straits Settlements|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 Singaporean general election|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 (federal constituency)|Bangsar]] between 1964 and 1969 and for the Singapore constituency of [[Anson Constituency|Anson]] between 1979 and 1981. Prior to his presidency, Nair was Secretary-General of the [[Democratic Action Party (Malaysia)|People's Action Party of Malaya]] prior to [[Independence of Singapore Agreement 1965|Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia]] and continued to serve after the expulsion under its new name [[Democratic Action Party (Malaysia)|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 of Singapore|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, Ontario|Hamilton]], Canada, when he died there at the age of 82 of [[dementia]] in 2005.