Gunasena de Soyza, CMG, OBE (20 December 1902 – 12 October 1961) was 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. He served as the

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

to the

Ministry of External Affairs and Defence Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

before appointment as Ceylon's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Early life and education

Gunasena De Soyza was born on 20 December 1902 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 ...

. He attended

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

one of the leading Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka for his primary and secondary education and later gained admission to the

Ceylon University College 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 ...

, graduating in 1923 with 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 ...

a degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, and studied

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

Civil service career

He was appointed to the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the ...

in 1926 by the Secretary of State. On his returned to Ceylon he was attached to the Matara

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 ac ...

as a cadet. He thereafter served as an Office Assistant to the Government Agent in Hambanthota, Jaffna and Kegalle. We thereafter served as Landing Surveyor, Customs. He thereafter served as Assistant Government Agent in Badulla and Mullattivu before he returned to Colombo as Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Society. In 1944, he was appointed Commissioner of Cooperative Department. In 1948, he was appointed

to the Ministry of Food and Co-operative Undertakings and served till 1949. He thereafter served as the acting Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Posts, before taking over as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Local Government. In 1953, he was seconded to Secretary, Cabinet Planning Committee and Chief Planning Commission. In October 1953, he was appointed Permanent Secretary to the

. He was appointed Ceylon's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in December 1957 and served till October 1958. He was reappointed in February 1960 and was serving until his death on 12 October 1961. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 1948 Birthday Honours in recognition of his work for the cooperative movement, and he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in the

1954 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1954 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Soyza, Gunasena 1902 births 1961 deaths Alumni of the University of Ceylon Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire Ceylonese Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Sinhalese civil servants Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom

Early life and education

Civil service career

See also

References