Sir Velupillai Coomaraswamy
CMG
Ceylonese High Commissioner to Canada
Personal details
Born(1892-09-25)25 September 1892
Died13 November 1972(1972-11-13) (aged 80)
ProfessionCivil servant
EthnicityCeylon Tamil

Sir Velupillai Coomaraswamy, CMG (25 September 1892 – 13 November 1972) was a Ceylonese civil servant and diplomat. He served as the Ceylonese High Commissioner to Canada and Ceylonese Envoy to Burma.

Early life and family

Coomaraswamy was born on 25 September 1892.[1] He was the son of Velupillai from Vaddukoddai in northern Ceylon.[1] Coomaraswamy passed the London Interscience Examination after school.[1]

Coomaraswamy married Thayalnayaki, daughter of M. Sinnathamby.[1] After Thayalnayaki's death he married Nesamani, daughter of J. T. Bartlett.[1]

Civil service career

Coomaraswamy worked as teacher before joining the Ceylon Civil Service in 1913.[1] As a cadet, he served in the Puttalam Kachcheri and the Anduradhapura Kachcheri. He was Police Magistrate and District Judge in Puttalam, Negombo, Kegalle and Panadura, thereafter served as the District Judge, Kegalle.[2] He was then Assistant Government Agent in Kegalle, Puttalam and Hambantota.[2] He was assigned to the State Council of Ceylon, serving as Clerk of the State Council and Secretary to the Board of Ministers from 1932 to 1933.[2] In 1933, he was posted as Acting Government Agent, Eastern Province.[2] He was then appointed Additional Registrar General, Registrar General, acting Commissioner of Lands, acting conservator of Forests, Food Controller, Controller of Import, Exports and Exchange, Government Agent, Eastern Province in 1945.[2] In late 1945, he served as of representative of the Government of Ceylon in Malaya.[2] He was the Government Agent for the Western Province from January 1946 to December 1947.[2] He was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Rural Development.[1][3] He was the first native Government Agent of the Western province.[4][2]

Diplomatic career

Coomaraswamy served as the Deputy Ceylonese High Commissioner in London in 1948.[1][5][2] In 1953, he was appointed Ceylonese Minister and Envoy Extraordinary in Rangoon and thereafter he was appointed Ceylonese High Commissioner in Ottawa in 1958.[1][6][7] Coomaraswamy died on 13 November 1972.[8][2]

Honours

Coomaraswamy was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1947 Birthday Honours.[9] He was knighted in the 1952 New Year Honours as a Knights Bachelor.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 44.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Ceylon Civil List, 1954. Colombo: Ceylon Government Press. 1954. p. 81.
  3. ↑ "Name List of The Government Agent's". Colombo District Secretariat.
  4. ↑ "Book Review: 'There's No Place Like Home'". The Island (Sri Lanka). 5 November 2000.
  5. ↑ "Third Supplement". The London Gazette (39844): 2504. 1 May 1953.
  6. ↑ "Ceylon and Canada forged close ties during Suez Crisis". lankareporter.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  7. ↑ "Outgoing High Commissioner honours previous envoys to Ottawa". lankareporter.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "Coomaraswamy, Sir Velupillai". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ↑ "Second Supplement". The London Gazette (37977): 2576. 6 June 1947.
  10. ↑ "Fourth Supplement". The London Gazette (39424): 45. 28 December 1951.
  11. ↑ "London Gazette". The London Gazette (39594): 3748. 11 July 1952.
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