Bernard Soysa (20 March 1914 - 30 December 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician.

Early life and education

Bernard Soysa was born 20 March 1914 in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, Ceylon. He attended the

Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya , motto_translation = Glory to God Alone , caption = Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya , location = Retreat Road, Colombo , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , pushpi ...

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

and then Ananda College. Soysa joined the Samasamajist movement in 1937 whilst he was a student at

University College, Colombo Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

. He dropped out of the University College, and after brief stints at

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and teaching he joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Early politics

In April 1942 he traveled to India to assist in establishing the Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, which was actively involved in the struggle against British rule in August 1942. Soysa was arrested in Bombay in July 1943, months after the struggle was crushed, where he was detained for 50 days before being returned to Ceylon, and released on parole.

Parliamentary career

Following the end of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

he contested the 1st parliamentary election, held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947, in the Colombo South electorate, where he polled third. Soysa didn't run in the subsequent 1948 by-election, following the dismissal of the sitting member for Colombo South, Reginald Abraham de Mel, which saw the election of Theodore Frederick Jayewardene, representing the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

. He did however challenge Jayewardene at the 2nd parliamentary election, held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952, failing to secure the seat by 5,180 votes. He was elected to the

Colombo Municipal Council The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 muni ...

from the Tibirigasyaya Ward, defeating Kusala Abhayavardhana. At the 3rd parliamentary election, held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956, Soysa ran again for the third time for the seat of Colombo South. This time he was successful, receiving 14,199 votes (50.93% of the total vote) and defeating the sitting member,

T. F. Jayewardene Major Theodore Frederick "Freddy" Jayewardene (25 March 1911 – ?) was a Ceylonese planter and politician. He was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Labour and Member of Parliament for Colombo South from 1948 to 1956. Earl ...

, by 5,044 votes. In 1960, Colombo South became a multi-member constituency with two seats in Parliament, following its amalgamation with the Wellawatte/Galkissa electorate. Soysa and

Edmund Samarawickrema Arthur Edmund Samarawickrema (born 11 September 1921) was a Sri Lankan auctioneer, broker and politician. Samarawickrema was educated at Christ Church College, Galkissa, where he was the president of the school's debating society. He ran for a po ...

(UNP) were elected as representatives in March 1960. In July 1960, Soysa was re-elected and

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

was elected in the place of Samarawickrema. Soysa and Jayewardene were re-elected unopposed in 1965, the first time since 1947, when Hameed Hussain Sheikh Ismail was elected uncontested in the Puttalam electorate, that there had been no contest for a seat in the parliament. The pair also retained their seats in parliament at the 7th parliamentary election, held on 27 May 1970. Soysa supported the coalition,

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

, government that was formed in May 1970 between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. He was appointed the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament during the first coalition of 1964; he continued in this post during the United National Party's government of 1965-70 and the coalition government of 1970–77, a tenure of 13 years. In the second coalition, he acted for

N. M. Perera Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, commonly known as Dr. N. M. Perera ( Sinhala එන්.එම්.පෙරේරා ; 6 June 1904 – 14 August 1979), was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). He w ...

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

on several occasions when Perera was out of the country. He served as the Minister of Housing in the

Second Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet The Second Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike between 1970 and 1977. It was formed in May 1970 after the parliamentary election and it ended in July 1977 after the opposi ...

. In 1977, Colombo South was split up into two electorates, Colombo East and Colombo West. Soysa contested the Colombo East electorate, finishing third, losing to

. He again contest the Colombo West electorate in a by-election held on 21 March 1978, finishing third, losing to Anura Bastian. In August 1994 at the 10th parliamentary election, Soysa was elected to parliament as an LSSP member of the People's Alliance in the

Colombo Electoral District Colombo Electoral District is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Colombo in the Western province. The di ...

. He was subsequently appointed the Minister of Science and Technology in the

Kumaratunga cabinet The Kumaratunga cabinet was the central government of Sri Lanka led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga between 1994 and 2005. It was formed in November 1994 when Kumaratunga was elected president and it ended in November 2005 when her second li ...

. Speaking as a minister at the fiftieth anniversary session of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science in 1994.

Death

Soysa died on 30 December 1997 at the National Hospital, Colombo, Sri Lanka. His position as Minister of Science and Technology was filled by

Vasudeva Nanayakkara Vasudeva Nanayakkara ( si, වාසුදේව නානායක්කාර) (born 3 January 1939) is a Sri Lankan left-wing politician, Member of Parliament and a former presidential candidate. Early life Born to a wealthy business fami ...

in January 1998.

Legacy

On 20 March 2001 Sri Lanka Post issued a

commemorative stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

with his image. In May 2014 Kirula Road, Narahenpita was renamed Bernard Soysa Mawatha in his honour.

Personal life

He was the brother of Dr Ananda Soysa and brother-in-law of Dr

Priyani Soysa Deshamanya Priyani Elizabeth Soysa ( si, ප්‍රියානි සොයිසා; 23 November 1925 – 7 April 2023) was a Sri Lankan scientist who was Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics of the University of Colombo and the first woman to ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soysa, Bernard 1914 births 1997 deaths Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka Colombo municipal councillors People of British Ceylon Sinhalese politicians Sinhalese teachers