Cyril E. S. Perera, QC, (19 January 1892 – 27 March 1968) was a former member of the House of Representatives (Ceylon), and in later life a leading businessman.

Biography

Cyril Ernest Stanley Perera was born on 19 January 1892 and received his secondary education at St. Anthony's College, Kandy. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree and first class honours Bachelor of Law degree from the University of London and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at Gray's Inn. Perera had the unique distinction of being second in order of merit at the Bar Final in his year, and won a £50 prize from Gay's Inn. Perera was a teacher before he entered the legal profession, and founded the first Teachers' Association of Ceylon, in Kandy, and was its Secretary until he left for

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

in 1920, where he taught at the Anglo-Chinese School,

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for five years. In Malaya he founded a Teachers' Association. Perera began his legal practice in Kandy, and came to Colombo in 1935, and appeared frequently in the Appeal Courts, and the District Courts. In 1953 he was made a Queen's Counsel in recognition of his eminence at the Bar. In 1952, Perera successfully contested the Colombo North seat in Parliament. Disillusioned he did not run again at the 1956 Parliamentary elections and returned to business and the law. Perera was a vocal critic of the S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike government's ' Sinhala Only Act' stating: "The Tamils will never forget and never forgive the majority community for depriving them of rights which had been apparently been secured to them." In 1938 Perera, in association with Hugh Weerasekere, founded the Ceylon Insurance Company (predecessor to

Ceylinco Consolidated Ceylinco Consolidated was one of Sri Lanka's oldest and largest business conglomerates until 2008. History The original company, ''Ceylon Insurance Company'', was founded by Justin Kotelawala, Cyril Rodrigo, Hugh Weerasekere and Cyril E. S. ...

) and was a member of its board until his death. He also floated the Finance Company of Ceylon (now called, The Finance Co. PLC), started the first Ceylonese shipping venture, the Eastern Star Lines, and was involved in establishing Ceylon Chocolates Limited in 1962, which produces the famous Kandos chocolates in

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 ...

. He was one of the founder members of the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries and was its first chairman. At the time of his death, on 27 March 1968, he was either chairman or on the directorate of several Ceylonese organisations.

Sources

http://islanka.com/index.php?itemID=173&branch=125

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Cyril E S 1892 births 1968 deaths Sinhalese lawyers Alumni of the University of London Alumni of St. Anthony's College, Kandy Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Expatriates from British Ceylon in British Malaya