Bernard Jayasuriya was a Ceylonese businessman and politician. Bernard Jayasuriya was the son of D. C. D. Jayasuriya, a rubber plantation and graphite mine owner. He received his education at S. Thomas College and

St. Joseph's College, Colombo , motto_translation = In Knowledge and Virtue , location = T. B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , caption = School Facade , pushpin_m ...

, where he captained the school's cricket team. He later played for the Singhalese Sports Club. He served as a member of the

2nd State Council of Ceylon The 2nd State Council of Ceylon was a meeting of the State Council of Ceylon, with the membership determined by the results of the 1936 state council election held between 22 February and 7 March 1936. The parliament met for the first time on 1 ...

, between February 1943 and 1947, for Avissawella, following the arrest and detention of the sitting member, Philip Gunawardena in July 1942. At the by-election on 27 February 1943 Jayasuriya secured 10,567 votes, 3,913 votes ahead of his nearest rival, S. T. D. Gunawardane. He was subsequently appointed to the Executive Committee for Labour, Industry and Commerce. In 1945 he married Clodagh née Jayewardene, who later became the first female to be elected to the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Counci ...

. Jayasuriya contested the seat of Avissawella at the 1st parliamentary election held in late 1947. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to get elected losing to Philip Gunawardena by almost 12,000 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayasuriya, Bernard Alumni of Saint Joseph's College, Colombo Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon Sinhalese businesspeople Sinhalese politicians Year of birth missing Year of death missing