Scholar, eight-term MLA Liezietsu now Nagaland CM

Kohima, February 22

Nagaland Peoples' Front president Shurhozelie Liezietsu, who was sworn in as the eleventh Nagaland Chief Minister on Wednesday, is not only a politician but also an eminent scholar, author and a linguist.

The 81-year-old Liezietsu, eight-term MLA and the chairman of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), had joined politics in 1969.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

He began his political career as a member of Nagaland Legislative Assembly in 1969 from northern Angami-I under Kohima district.

During his long political career, he held different portfolios, including education, planning and coordination and urban development.

Liezietsu was the minister for higher education till 2013.

One of the founding members of Nagaland's first regional party -- United Democratic Front (UDF) and later Naga National Democratic Party (NNDP) -- Liezietsu had played an important role in the formation of Nagaland Peoples' Front (NPF) in 2002.

He voluntarily did not contest the state Assembly elections in 2013, allowing his son, Khriehu Liezietsu to successfully fight the polls.

He has authored 42 books on poetry, novels, drama and translations. Several of his books are part of the syllabus in Nagaland University.

An eminent scholar, he is one of the most decorated educationists in Angami (the native language of the Angami tribe) literature.

Liezietsu belongs to Angami tribe, one of the 16 major tribes in Nagaland.

President of Ura Academy, the state's highest literary body, he was conferred an honorary D.Litt. by the Nagaland University in 2003.

After initial schooling in Mission Public School, Kohima, he did his matriculation in 1956 from Kohima Government High School and graduation from the prestigious St. Edmund's College, Shillong. — PTI