Abdon Ignatius Perera JP,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(30 July 1888 - 5 December 1955) was the first Ceylonese

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...

and Director of Telecommunications, serving in the position from 1947 to 1951. Abdon Ignatius Perera was born 30 July 1888 in Colombo to Don Nicholas Perera and Clara née Peiris. Perera was educated at

St. Benedict's College, Colombo St. Benedict's College ( Sinhala: සාන්ත බෙනඩික් විදුහල, Tamil: புனித ஆசீர்வாதப்பர் கல்லூரி) is a Catholic school located in the Kotahena area of Colombo, Sri ...

(1894-1903), where he passed the Cambridge Junior Examination. He passed the first class examination in

Telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and the second class examination in the Telephony at the London City and Guilds College. He then joined the Department of Archaeology as a temporary clerk in 1905 and joined the Department of Posts and Telecommunications on 1 February 1906 as a Second Class Post Master in the Department of Posts and Telecommunications. In 1923 he was promoted to first class postmaster and in 1928 to investigator. In 1931 he was appointed as the Pannaradhana Telecommunication Officer and in 1936 he was appointed as the Superintendent of Telecommunication Transport. He was appointed Assistant Postmaster General in 1943, serving as the acting Postmaster General and Director of Telecommunications on several occasions in 1945, 1946 and 1947. Perera was officially appointed Postmaster General and Director of Telecommunications on 1 January 1948, succeeding John Pringle Appleby, he served in this post for three years and eleven months until 1 November 1951. Whilst he was Postmaster General he established the Domestic Air Postal Service, on 7 February 1949, which provided a same day distribution of mail between Colombo and

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

. He initiated a departmental van service on 1 April 1948. He also reduced postage on 25 January 1949 to provide relief to the general poor. During his tenure the country was recognised as an independent member of the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to t ...

on 13 July 1949. He also oversaw the transformation of the post office from English only into the national languages after independence. He was a Justice of the Peace in the Colombo Judicial District and a Major in the British Army. In

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

he was awarded an

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

and in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

he was awarded the

Commander of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. After he retired from the postal service on 1 November 1951 he was appointed Trade Commissioner of the Ceylon High Commission in the United Kingdom. He was married to Lilian Grace Ameresekera and they had eight sons and two daughters. Archibald, Forrester Geoffrey Ivor, Kenneth St Clair (1922 - 1988), Vere, Fritz, Owen, Nicholas, Michael, Dorothy and Edith. Perera died in London on 5 December 1955 at the age of 67.

References

External links

Sri Lanka Post
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Abdon Ignatius 1888 births 1955 deaths Alumni of St. Benedict's College, Colombo Postmasters General of Sri Lanka Sinhalese civil servants Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan expatriates in the United Kingdom