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Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne
Edwin Wijeyeratne
Member of the Senate of Ceylon
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. The Senate of Ceylon was the upper house of parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka established in 1947. Events 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island The United National Party, often referred to as the UNP Sinhalese: එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය (pronounced Eksath Jathika Pakshaya Deshamanya Nissanka Parakrama Wijeyeratne ( 14 June, 1924 - 7 January, 2007) was a Sri Lankan politician Civil servant Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting Negotiations between representatives of groups or states A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Sir is an Honorific used as a title (see Knight) and in several other modern contexts Events 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United National Party, often referred to as the UNP Sinhalese: එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය (pronounced Eksath Jathika Pakshaya Don Stephen Senanayake ( October 20 1884 &ndash 22 March 1952) was an independence activist who served as the first Prime Minister of The Senate of Ceylon was the upper house of parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka established in 1947.

Contents

Early days

Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne of Budenepola Walauwa, Kegalle was the eldest son of Gabrial Perera Wijeyeratne, a respected notary public. A Walauwa is the name given to a Feudal Manor house in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) Kegalle is a City in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo - Kandy road A notary public is an officer who can administer Oaths and Statutory Declarations Witness and authenticate documents The family hailed from the city of Kotte in Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte (ශ්‍රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ in Sinhalese and ஸ்ரீ ஜயவர்த்தனபுரம் கோட்டே 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. Gampola is a town located near Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka 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. St Joseph's College is the leading Catholic educational institution in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He won 15 prizes at the last school prize giving he attended. [1]

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. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( April 17, 1916 - October 10, 2000) was a politician from Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon 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. Deshamanya Nissanka Parakrama Wijeyeratne ( 14 June, 1924 - 7 January, 2007) was a Sri Lankan politician Civil servant Diyawadana Nilame is the office of chief lay custodian of Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy, Sri Lanka. The Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Temple in the city of Kandy in Sri Lanka. He had also been Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Russian Federation and former member of the governing body of UNESCO. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 The youngest son, Dr Cuda Wijeyeratne is a physician.

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. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person 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.

Political career

Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne was one of the hundreds of Ceylonese arrested by the British colonial government during the Riots of 1915. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located 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. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan KCMG, KC (born 15 April 1851 -died 30 November 1930) was a former Solicitor-General 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. Sir James Peiris Kt, JP ( December 12 1875 - 1953 was a prominent figure in the Sri Lankan independence movement and a

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. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island [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. Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू ʤəʋäɦəɾläl nɛɦɾu (14 November 1889 27 May 1964 was a major political leader of the Congress Party 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].

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. "Sri Lanka Matha" is the National anthem of Sri Lanka. [4]

Diplomatic role

Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne with Queen Elizabeth II
Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne with Queen Elizabeth II

Edwin Wijeyeratne was appointed Ceylon High Commissioner to Britain in 1951. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking special executive positions held by a commission of appointment In 1953, he was made a Knights Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham palace. The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. 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. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne was appointed Ceylon High Commissioner to India in 1954. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country During this period he represented Ceylon at the coronation of the King of Nepal. The King of Nepal was traditionally known as the Mahārājdhirāja (श्री 5 महाराजधिराज his queen was known as the Badāmahārānī

References

See also

Deshamanya Nissanka Parakrama Wijeyeratne ( 14 June, 1924 - 7 January, 2007) was a Sri Lankan politician Civil servant "Sri Lanka Matha" is the National anthem of Sri Lanka.
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