Sir Arthur Godwin Ranasinha, CMG,

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 ...

, CCS (24 June 189819 June 1976) was a Sri Lankan civil servant and statesmen. A career civil servant in the Ceylon Civil Service, he served as

Secretary to the Treasury In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure ...

, Cabinet Secretary and Governor of the

Central Bank of Ceylon The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, Sri Lanka Maha Bankuwa) is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA), it is ...

before apportionment as a Cabinet Minister and Senator. He had also served as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy.

Education

Ranasinghe was educated at

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. He was a Ceylon University Scholar in 1917 and gained

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in History from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Civil service

He was appointed to the Ceylon Civil Service as a Cadet in January 1921 by the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London having been placed seventh in the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

admission exam in 1920. On his return to the island, he was attached to the

Kegalle Kegalle ( si, කෑගල්ල; ta, கேகாலை) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo– Kandy road, approximately from Colombo and from Kandy. It is the main town in the Kegalle Distr ...

kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and a ...

and was attached to the

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 mo ...

kachcheri in 1922 and was appointed

Police Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Point Pedro Point Pedro ( ta, பருத்தித்துறை, translit=Paruttittuṟai; si, පේදුරු තුඩුව, translit=Pēduru Tuḍuva) is a town, located in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka, at the northernmost point of the island. ...

in 1923. Promoted to Class 4 officer, he served as a Police Magistrate in Balapitiya and Jaffna. In 1928, he was Promoted to Class 3 officer and served as District Judge in

Avissawella Avissawella, ( si, අවිස්සාවේල්ල, ta, அவிசாவளை) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka ...

and

Badulla Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is ...

. Promoted to Class 2 officer, he served as Additional Assistant Government Agent of Colombo before being appointed as Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture and Lands from 1933 to 1936 when he was appointed

Public Trustee The public trustee is an office established pursuant to national (and, if applicable, state or territory) statute, to act as a trustee, usually when a sum is required to be deposited as security by legislation, if courts remove another trustee, o ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he served as Custodian of enemy property. In 1944, he was promoted to class 1 officer and appointed Superintendent of Census and in 1945 he served as Secretary to the

D. S. Senanayake Don Stephen Senanayake ( si, දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක,; ta, டி. எஸ். சேனநாயக்கா; 21 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Mi ...

, Leader of the State Council of Ceylon on his mission to London to discuss the report by the

Soulbury Commission The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

with the Secretary of State for the Colonies and negotiate for self-rule in Ceylon. He also served as acting Commissioner of Lands. In 1947, he was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and acting Superintendent of Census. In 1950 he was appointed Cabinet Secretary and Deputy Secretary to the Treasury. In 1951, he was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary to the Cabinet, serving till 1954. He also served as Secretary to the Cabinet Planning Committee and Chief Planning Commissioner from 1953 to 1954. In 1954, he was appointed Governor of the Central Bank which he held until 1959. He served as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy and Greece from 1959 to 1961, with concurrent accreditation as Ceylon's Permanent Representative to

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(FAO).

Honors

He was appointed a

Commander of the Most Excellent 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 o ...

(CBE) in the

1948 New Year Honours The 1948 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1948 for the Briti ...

, a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1949 Birthday Honours and was knighted in the

1954 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1954 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1954 to celebrat ...

as a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

. He was awarded the

King George VI Coronation Medal The King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir of King George VI's coronation. It was awarded to t ...

in 1937 and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranasinghe 1898 births 1976 deaths Government ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the Senate of Ceylon Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Governors of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ceylonese Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Ceylonese Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Ceylonese Knights Bachelor Sinhalese civil servants District Courts of Sri Lanka judges Sinhalese judges Magistrates of Sri Lanka Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Alumni of the University of London Indian Civil Service (British India) officers

Education

Civil service

Honors

See also

References