George E. de Silva

Hon.

George E. de Silva
Hon.; George E. de Silva
	George E. de Silva in the first Cabinet of Ministers of Ceylon
Minister of Industries, Industrial Research and 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	George Edmund de Silva; 8 June 1879; Ceylon
Died	12 March 1950 (aged 70); Ceylon
Nationality	Ceylonese
Political party	United National Party
Spouse(s)	Agnes Marion Nell
Children	Fredrick, Minnette, Anil
Alma mater	Lorenz College Colombo, Ceylon Law College
Occupation	journalist, lawyer, politician

George Edmund de Silva (8 June 1879 - 12 March 1950) was a Ceylonese 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 and State Council.^[1]^[2]

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 memorandum 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 elected to the seat of Kandy, at the 1st parliamentary election, held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947,^[3] and appointed to D. S. Senanayake's cabinet as the first Minister for Industries and Fisheries.^[4]^[5]

Together with his wife, Agnes Marion Nell, 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 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.^[6]

References[]

^ "Hon. de Silva, George Edmund, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
^ Abeyaratne, L. B. "George E. De Silva — Champion Of The Poor". The Sunday Leader.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 6 August 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Wickramasinghe, Wimal (18 January 2008). "Saga of crossovers, expulsions and resignations etc. Referendum for extention [sic] of Parliament". The Island.
^ Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 12: Tryst with independence". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 2002-01-03.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ Wickrematunge, Raine (2013). And then they came for me: The Lasantha Wickrematunge Story. Author House. pp. 2–5. ISBN 978-1481789905.

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[1] "Hon. de Silva, George Edmund, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 6 August 2018.

[2] Abeyaratne, L. B. "George E. De Silva — Champion Of The Poor". The Sunday Leader.

[3] "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 6 August 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}

[TI180108-4] Wickramasinghe, Wimal (18 January 2008). "Saga of crossovers, expulsions and resignations etc. Referendum for extention [sic] of Parliament". The Island.

[Rajasingham12-5] Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 12: Tryst with independence". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 2002-01-03.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[6] Wickrematunge, Raine (2013). And then they came for me: The Lasantha Wickrematunge Story. Author House. pp. 2–5. ISBN 978-1481789905.

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show v t ← // Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon (1947 (1947)–1952) →
Speaker: Alexander Francis Molamure/Albert Peries Prime Minister: D. S. Senanayake/Dudley Senanayake Leader of the Opposition: N. M. Perera
Central Province (15)	M. D. Banda George E. de Silva T. B. Ilangaratne, Tamara Kumari Ilangaratne Senerat Gunewardene R. S. Pelpola K. Kumaravelu G. R. Motha Abdul Aziz V. T. Nanayakkara E. A. Nugawela T. B. Panabokke H. R. U. Premachandra K. Rajalingam H. B. Rambukwella Abeyratne Ratnayaka H. B. Tenne Savumiamoorthy Thondaman C. V. Velupillai
Eastern Province (7)	A. R. A. M. Abubucker S. U. Ethirmanasingham M. M. Ebrahim M. S. Kariapper Ahamed Lebbe Sinne Lebbe V. Nalliah S. Sivapalan
Northern Province (9)	S. J. V. Chelvanayakam K. Kanagaratnam V. Kumaraswamy G. G. Ponnambalam T. Ramalingam C. Sittampalam C. Suntharalingam Alfred Thambiayah C. Vanniasingam
North Central Province (5)	P. L. Bauddhasara P. B. Bulankulame S. H. Mahadiulwewa T. B. Poholiyadde Maithripala Senanayake
North Western Province (10)	Ivan Dassanayake J. J. Fernando Kavisena Herath I. M. R. A. Iriyagolle Hameed Hussain Sheikh Ismail John Kotelawala Albert Peries Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake Herbert Sri Nissanka Tikiri Banda Subasinghe
Sabaragamuwa Province (10)	C. E. Attygalle D. F. Hettiarachchi N. H. Keerthiratne E. W. Mathew Alexander Francis Molamure Jayaweera Kuruppu N. M. Perera Reginald Perera Harris Leuke Ratwatte Dudley Senanayake Florence Senanayake
Southern Province (12)	H. D. Abeygoonewardane Simon Abeywickrema H. W. Amarasuriya Wijeyananda Dahanayake William de Silva Arthur de Zoysa Walwin de Silva) D. S. Goonesekera Montague Jayawickrama P. Kumarasiri D. A. Rajapaksa Lakshman Rajapaksa V. G. W. Ratnayake W. Wickremasinghe
Uva Province (7)	Leo Fernando J. C. T. Kotelawala K. V. Nadarajah D. Ramanujam J. A. Rambukpota S. M. Subbaiah K. D. Sugathadasa
Western Province (20)	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Somaweera Chandrasiri R. A. de Mel T. F. Jayewardene Colvin R. de Silva George R. de Silva A. Ekanayake Gunasinha Cholomondeley Goonewardene Philip Gunawardena Kusumasiri Gunawardena Robert Gunawardena T. B. Jayah M. C. M. Kaleel A. P. Jayasuriya D. P. Jayasuriya J. R. Jayewardene D. D. Karunaratne P. P. Jayawardena Pieter Keuneman Wilmot A. Perera Henry Peiris D. S. Senanayake S. A. Silva H. de Z. Siriwardena
Appointed (6)	E. F. N. Gratiaen Rosslyn Koch F. H. Griffith R. Singleton-Salmon J. A. Martenze J. W. Oldfield S. A. Pakeman G. R. Whitby

show v t Members of the Sri Lankan Parliament from Kandy
Kandy Electoral District (1947–1989) Current District: Kandy Electoral District
One–member (1947 – 1989)	George E. de Silva Tikiri Bandara Ilangaratne Tamara Ilangaratne Edward Senanayake Piyasena Tennakoon Edward Senanayake
Multi–member (1989 – Present)	(1989 – 1994): Dingiri Banda Wijetunga D. M. Jayaratne (Until 1989) Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed A. R. M. Abdul Cader Harindra Dunuwille Tissa Attanayake Lakshman Kiriella (1994 – 2000): Gamini Dissanayake (Until 1994) D. M. Jayaratne Anuruddha Ratwatte Lucky Jayawardena A. R. M. Abdul Cader Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed Tissa Attanayake Lakshman Kiriella Sarath Amunugama (2000 – 2001): Keheliya Rambukwella Anuruddha Ratwatte D. M. Jayaratne Tissa Attanayake Mahindananda Aluthgamage Sarath Amunugama A. R. M. Abdul Cader Lakshman Kiriella M. H. A. Haleem Lucky Jayawardena Rauff Hakeem (2001 – 2004): Keheliya Rambukwella Anuruddha Ratwatte Tissa Attanayake Sarath Amunugama M. H. A. Haleem Rauff Hakeem Lakshman Kiriella Mahindananda Aluthgamage Lucky Jayawardena Dimuthu Bandara Abayakoon (2004 – 2010): Dimuthu Bandara Abayakoon Keheliya Rambukwella Tissa Attanayake A. R. M. Abdul Cader Mahindananda Aluthgamage Lakshman Kiriella Y. M. Nawaratna Banda Sarath Amunugama M. H. A. Haleem D. M. Jayaratne Faiszer Musthapha Udawatte Nanda Thero (2010 – 2015): Mahindananda Aluthgamage Keheliya Rambukwella S. B. Dissanayake Lohan Ratwatte A. R. M. Abdul Cader Eric Prasanna Weerawardena Rauff Hakeem Lakshman Kiriella M. H. A. Haleem Dilum Amunugama Faiszer Musthapha Sarath Amunugama (2015 – Present): Lakshman Kiriella Lohan Ratwatte Mahindananda Aluthgamage Mayantha Dissanayake Dilum Amunugama Rauff Hakeem M. H. A. Haleem Anuradha Jayaratne Lucky Jayawardena Keheliya Rambukwella M. Velu Kumar Ananda Aluthgamage

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Hon. George E. de Silva
George E. de Silva in the first Cabinet of Ministers of Ceylon

Minister of Industries, Industrial Research and 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	George Edmund de Silva (1879-06-08)8 June 1879 Ceylon
Died	12 March 1950(1950-03-12) (aged 70) Ceylon
Nationality	Ceylonese
Political party	United National Party
Spouse(s)	Agnes Marion Nell
Children	Fredrick, Minnette, Anil
Alma mater	Lorenz College Colombo, Ceylon Law College
Occupation	journalist, lawyer, politician