Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Francis Sreenath de Zoysa Abeysiriwardena, KC (1874–1942) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

lawyer and statesmen. He was a member of the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It r ...

and a president of the

Ceylon National Congress The Ceylon National Congress ( Sinhala: ලංකා ජාතික කොන්ග්‍රසය ''Lanka Jathika Kongrasaya'') (CNC) was a Nationalist political party which was formed in Ceylon on 11 December 1919. It was founded after national ...

Legal career

He was born in the coastal village of

Balapitiya Balapitiya is a coastal town, in south west Sri Lanka. It is located in the Southern Province in Sri Lanka. Situated south of Colombo, about a two-hour drive from the capital. It is the nearest town to the Maduganga River Madu Ganga is a mi ...

, to Demuni Dedrick de Zoysa Abeysiriwardena of Gamakarana Walauwa and Clara Wirasekara from Galhera, Ahungalle. De Zoysa qualified as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

of the

Supreme Court of Ceylon The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

. He established a successful legal practice and was appointed a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

Political career

A president of the

, he was elected to 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 ...

from Balapitiya in the 1936 general election. In the State Council he introduced the Bribery Act.

Family

He married Ethel Perera Amarasekera Siriwardena of Ragama Walauwa. Their children were:
- *

Sydney de Zoysa Sydney Godfrey de Zoysa (January 15, 1909 - October 20, 1994) was a Sri Lankan senior police officer. A former Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of Range II and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Internal Security, he was one of co-co ...

(former

deputy inspector general of police A Deputy Inspector General of Police (abbreviated as DIG) is a high-ranking official position in Police in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. India Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) is a rank i ...

) * A. C. de Zoysa (President's Counsel) * Violet Rajapakse (married to Tudor Rajapakse of Maha Kappina Walauwa, Balapitiya, pioneer member of Mahila Samithiya) * Olga de Zoysa (first Miss Ceylon) * Dickie de Zoysa (

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

's best man at his wedding) * Gwendoline de Zoysa *

Stanley de Zoysa Stanley de Zoysa (27 June 1907 - 10 December 1970) was a Sri Lankan businessmen and politician. He was the former Cabinet Minister of Finance (1956–1959) in S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's government, subsequently Minister of Interior (1959–1960 ...

(former minister of finance) *

Lucien de Zoysa Lucien Edward de Zoysa (1917 – 1995) was a Ceylonese cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1947 and 1954. He became a stage actor, playwright, author, and cricket commentator on radio. Early life and education Lucien de Zoysa was one ...

(cricketer, writer, actor and cricket commentator) * Douglas de Zoysa * Capt Kenneth de Zoysa * Iris Wickremasinghe (first married to Michael de Zoysa Siriwardena, minister in Bandaranaike's cabinet, and then to Anton Wickremasinghe) * Olive Amarasekera

References

Sinhalese lawyers Ceylonese advocates Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon Sri Lankan independence activists Ceylonese Queen's Counsel {{SriLanka-bio-stub