George E. de Silva

The Honourable George E. de Silva MP
George E. de Silva in the first Cabinet of Ministers of Ceylon
Minister of Industries, Industrial Research & Fisheries
In office 26 September 1947 – 1948
Prime Minister	D. S. Senanayake
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	G. G. Ponnambalam
Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Kandy
In office 1947–1949
Preceded by	Constituency created
Succeeded by	Tamara Kumari Ilangaratne
Personal details
Born	1879 Ceylon
Died	1950 Ceylon
Nationality	Ceylonese
Political party	United National Party
Children	Fredrick de Silva, Minnette de Silva, Anil de Silva

George Edmund de Silva (1879 - 1950) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He was the first Cabinet Minister of Industries, Industrial Research and Fisheries in independent Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) (1947–1948), a Member of Parliament & State Council.^[1]

He started his career as a journalist in the Ceylon Independent and in The Times of Ceylon. Later he entered the Ceylon Law College and started a law practice in Kandy.

In 1915 de Silva and E. W. Perera carried a secret Memorial initiated and drafted by Sir James Peiris to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, pleading for the repeal of martial law and vindication of the reputations of those who had been falsely accused during the riots of 1915.

De Silva entered politics after he was elected to the Kandy Municipal Council in 1930. In 1931 he was elected to the State Council from the Central Province. Having been re-elected, he was appointed Minister of Health. In 1943 he was elected the President of the Ceylon National Congress. After Ceylon gained independence, de Silva was appointed to the D. S. Senanayake's cabinet as the first Minister for Industries and Fisheries.

He is the father of Fredrick de Silva, MBE who was the Mayor of Kandy, Member of Parliament and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in France. His grandson is The Sir Desmond de Silva, former United Nations Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra Leone and former husband of Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia. George E. de Silva's daughter Minnette de Silva was the first Asian woman to qualify as an architect with the Royal Institute of British Architects. She worked on early experiments of tropical modernism in Sri Lanka. He is also grand-uncle to journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge.^[2]

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