Deshamanya Deshamanya ( si, දේශමාන්‍ය, translit=Dēshamāṉya; ta, தேசமான்ய, translit=Tēcamāṉya; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a ...

Robin Bradman Weerakoon, CCS (born 20 October 1930) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n civil servant. As a senior bureaucrat of the

Sri Lankan government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the isl ...

, he served nine Sri Lankan heads of state in a career spanning half a century.David, Marianne (interviewer
The man who served under nine Prime Ministers of Ceylon/Sri Lanka
at http://dbsjeyaraj.com, 20 October 2010

Early life

His father, Edmund R. Weerakoon and his mother, a teacher at Princess of Wales College, were both devout

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

s. He was born 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 me ...

on 20 October 1930 and named after the legendary

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n cricketer Don Bradman who sailed to Colombo on the day of his birth.

Education

He studied at

Holy Cross College, Kalutara Holy Cross College is a Roman Catholic school in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. History According to the historical annals, during the latter half of the 19th century a Burgher national named Brohier had taken the initiative to start a private School ...

and later was one of the first boarding students at St. Thomas's College, Guruthalawa during the parent school at

Mount Lavinia Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia ( si, දෙහිවල-ගල්කිස්ස, translit=Dehivala-Galkissa; ta, தெஹிவளை-கல்கிசை, translit=Tehivaḷai-Kalkicai), population 245,974 (2012) is the largest suburb of the City of ...

's breakup into three separate branch schools (at Kollupitiya, Gurutalawa and Bandarawela) during World War II. He obtained a

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 years ...

Degree with second class honors (upper division) in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

from

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Unive ...

and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

for one year where he did his MA in Sociology.

Civil service

Weerakoon joined the Ceylon Civil Service in 1954 and was assigned as a cadet to the

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

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 ...

as an understudy to the Government Agent (GA) of Anuradhapura, after which he spent a year in

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 ...

where he learnt

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

. After that he was transferred to

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 ...

, but before he could assume duties, the order was withdrawn and he was sent to the Prime Minister's office. In 1953, he was appointed as the assistant secretary to the prime minister at the time, Sir John Kotelawela. He later became the secretary to the prime minister and continued after

Solomon Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

became the prime minister in 1956. After his death, he served Wijayananda Dahanayake and

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...

. Thereafter he worked for

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Min ...

although some in the UNP felt uneasy about his presence. After Sirimavo won the election again in 1970, he was transferred as Government Agent of Batticaloa and later Ampara, since he was deemed untrustworthy having conveyed information to the UNP Dudley Senanayake during Mrs. Bandaranike's previous regime. In 1976, he retired from his post to join

International Planned Parenthood Federation The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global non-governmental organisation with the broad aims of promoting sexual and reproductive health, and advocating the right of individuals to make their own choices in family ...

(IPPF), an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

working in the area of family planning as its Secretary General. In 1977,

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

appointed him as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Plantation. In 1980, he joined the Prime Minister's office once again as secretary during the tenure of Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa. Following the ethnic riots of 1983, he was appointed as Commissioner-General of essential services with wide-ranging administrative powers. In 1984, he rejoined IPPF as its secretary-general in London for one year, which entailed a great deal of travel from China to Africa to Mexico. Following President Premadasa's assumption of office he was appointed presidential advisor on international affairs during a period when Indo-Lanka relations were at their lowest, following the expulsion of the

IPKF Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lank ...

. After Premadasa's death, he continued as the advisor of his successor Wijetunge, and resigned in 1994 when Chandrika Kumaratunga became the president. After

Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

became the prime minister in 2001, Weerakoon was reappointed to his previous position of Secretary to the prime minister. He was an influential figure in Wickremesinghe's administration, especially in the peace process between the government and the

Tamil Tigers The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

.Envoy to Oslo recalled
at nation.lk News, 1 February 2009 His memoir ''Rendering Unto Caesar'' was published in 2004 after Wickremesinghe's government was defeated.Weerakoon, Bradman ''Rendering Unto Caesar: A Fascinating Story of One Man's Tenure Under Nine Prime Ministers and Presidents of Sri Lanka'' New Dawn Press, 2004.

Family

Weerakoon married Damayanthi Gunasekara (d. June 2007).Obituary notice
at Sri Lanks

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

, 14 June 2007 They have one child, Esala, who also became a senior civil servant. Married to Krishanti, the daughter of another well known Sri Lankan civil servant Bernard Tilakaratna, Esala Weerakoon was a former Sri Lankan ambassador to Norway who declined to co-operate in a publicity campaign against the Tamil Tigers, former Deputy Chief of Mission at the Sri Lanka Embassy in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, USA and current Sri Lankan High Commissioner to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

References

External links

Bradman Weerakoon: Biographical sketch
at bradmanweerakoon.com
Interview by Sanjana Haththotuwa
at groundviews.org, 1 December 2010 *Sri Kantha, Sachi
Rendering Unto Caesar: Memoirs of a Sinhalese Bureaucrat
' (Pro-Tamil) review at Sangam.org, 19 December 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Weerakoon, Bradman 1930 births Living people Sri Lankan Buddhists Alumni of Holy Cross College, Kalutara Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa Alumni of the University of Ceylon University of Michigan alumni Sinhalese civil servants Deshamanya