Edwin Wijeyeratne
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| Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne | |
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Member of the Senate of Ceylon
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| Born | 8 January 1889 |
| Died | 19 October 1968 |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | United National Party |
| Spouse | Lady Leela Wijeyeratne |
| Children | Tissa, Nissanka, Manel and Cuda |
| Occupation | Politics and Diplomat |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Buddhist |
Sir Edwin Aloysius Perera Wijeyeratne (8 January 1889 - 19 October 1968) was a Sri Lankan politician, diplomat, and one of the founding members of United National Party, and served as Cabinet Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development in the government of Don Stephen Senanayake and a Senator.
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[edit] Early days
Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne of Budenepola Walauwa, Kegalle was the eldest son of Gabrial Perera Wijeyeratne, a respected notary public. The family hailed from the city of Kotte in Sri Lanka. His mother, Catherina Wickremasinghe Jayasekera Tennekoon, was the daughter of Jayasekera Tennekoon, a wealthy notary from the Four Korales in Kegalle. The family had come to Kegalle early in the 16th century, fleeing the Portuguese, and continued to intermarry with the Walauwes of Kotte, Madapatha and Matara.
Edwin Wijeyeratne was born on 8 January 1889, at Rambukkana and was first educated at the village school. When he was nine years old, he went to Handessa Village School in Gampola, where he stayed at the home of his future wife, Leela Pethiyagoda. He was there for two years, after which he studied at St. Mary’s College, Kegalle before completing his secondary education at St Joseph's College, Colombo where he passed the Cambridge Senior exam with Honours. He won 15 prizes at the last school prize giving he attended.[1]
[edit] Family life
Edwin Wijeyeratne married Leela Pethiyagoda of Meewaladeniya Walauwa, Gampola and had three sons and a daughter. The eldest, Tissa Wijeyeratne was a Barrister at Law and served as the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Defence, as Sri Lankan Ambassador to France and to Switzerland, and as Senior Advisor (Foreign Affairs) to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Sir Wijeyeratne's second son, Dr Nissanka Wijeyeratne, was former Cabinet Minister of Education, Higher Education and Justice and Diyawadana Nilame (Chief lay Custodian) of Sri Dalada Maligawa. He had also been Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Russian Federation and former member of the governing body of UNESCO. The youngest son, Dr Cuda Wijeyeratne is a physician.
[edit] Professional career
After leaving school he became a teacher at Lorenz Tutory while working as a journalist. Edwin Wijeyeratne became a lawyer in 1929, and was quickly able to build up a large practice; he was an expert in Civil and Kandyan Law and in Buddhist Ecclesiastical Law. He entered the State Council in 1931 from Kegalle, where he served until 1936. He did not stand for re-election at the State Council in 1936, however he remained at the Bar from 1936 to 1947.
[edit] Political career
Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne was one of the hundreds of Ceylonese arrested by the British colonial government during the Riots of 1915. Others who where faced imprisonment without charges included prominent figures of the independence movement FR Senanayake, DC Senanayake, DS Senanayake, Baron Jayatilaka, Dr CA Hewavitarne, WA de Silva, Arthur V Dias, John Silva, Piyadasa Sirisena and AE Goonesinghe.
Edwin Wijeyeratne then became political secretary to Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, and was one of the co-founders of a political group, the Young Lanka League. When the Ceylon National Congress was founded by Sir P Arunachalam and Sir James Peiris, Edwin Wijeyeratne was one of their colleagues and a co-founder.
On one occasion, when the Lord Soulbury commissioners were on the way to Kandy, DS Senanayake had stationed Edwin Wijeyeratne bare bodied, in a paddy field in Kegalle. There, he was introduced to the commissioners as a typical Sinhala farmer and who spoke in English to the commissioners and impressed on them the need for Ceylon to obtain self-government.[2]
A special invitation was sent to Ceylon by Jawaharlal Nehru and the Indian Congress to visit India for a discussion regarding the independence of Ceylon. DS Senanayake, Edwin Wijeyeratne, George E De Silva, JR Jayawardene, GCS De Corea and HW Amarasuriya were among the delegates.
Edwin Wijeyeratne was appointed President of the Ceylon National Congress in 21st December 1940. His Joint Secretaries were Dudley Senanayake and JR Jayawardene. During this period he was chosen to lead the Ceylon National Congress delegation to London.
In 1947 Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne was appointed to the Senate which was a non elected upper house of parliament. There he served as acting leader. He was subsequently appointed as Cabinet Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development in Rt Hon DS Senanayake's government.
Sir Wijeyeratne was a member of the Commission on the Death Penalty which first recommended the abolishing the death penalty in 1958 [3].
[edit] National Anthem of Sri Lanka
Edwin Wijeyeratne while minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development, was appointed chairman of the select committee to select a National Anthem. The committee selected Namo, Namo, Matha as the national anthem of Sri Lanka.[4]
[edit] Diplomatic role
Edwin Wijeyeratne was appointed Ceylon High Commissioner to Britain in 1951. In 1953, he was made a Knights Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham palace. During this period, Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne was involved in strengthening diplomatic relations between Britain and Sri Lanka. He and Lady Wijeyeratne were visited at their residence in London on three occasions by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne was appointed Ceylon High Commissioner to India in 1954. During this period he represented Ceylon at the coronation of the King of Nepal.
[edit] References
- J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka: a political biography by De Silva, K. M., & Wriggins, W. H. 1988, University of Hawaii Press ISBN 0824811836
- The Break-up of Sri Lanka: the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict - Google Books Resultby Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson - 1988 - History - 256 pages books.google.lk/books ISBN 1850650330... Chelvanayakam showed this writer a letter from one of Senanayake's close political collaborators, Edwin Aloysius Perera Wijeyeratne.
