Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, CCS (18 March 1913 – 4 December 1980) was a Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant. He was High Commissioner to India and concurrently Ambassador to both Nepal and Afghanistan (1963–1967) and

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 ...

of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and the Ministry of Health. Amerasinghe served as Ceylon's

Permanent Representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation. Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...

to the United Nations 1967 to 1980 and served as

President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...

in 1976. He was also one of the leaders of the negotiations to draft the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

Education

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 18 March 1913 and hailing from a noble family from Galle. He was educated at

Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

and went 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 ...

, he took a

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

BA degree in Western Classics in 1934 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 ...

Career

Civil Service

Amerasinghe joined 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 1937, starting a career that would span 44 years. As a cadet, he served in the Kegalle

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 the Additional Police Magistrate in Kegalle and office assistant, Jaffna Kachcheri. Promoted an officer, he served in the Puttalam, Mannar and Vavuniya Kachcheri, before appointment as Secretary to the Minister of Health in 1941. He then served as Assistant Controller of Imports and Exports, Assistant Government Agent, Kegalle, Rathanapura and Matale. He was then Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In 1950, he was appointed Resident Manager of the Gal Oya Development Board in 1950. Two years later, he was sent on his first overseas appointment as Counsellor of Embassy of Ceylon in Washington, DC, from 1953 to 1955. From 1955 to 1957, he was the Controller of Establishments, General Treasury. In 1958, he became the Controller of Finance, Supply and Cadre, General Treasury. The same year, he was appointed as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Nationalized Services and Road Transport as well as Chairman of the Port (Cargo) Corporation. In 1961, Amerasinghe became

Secretary to the Treasury In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure ...

and

to the

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", " ...

, succeeding his cousin Samson Felix Amarasinghe and held that post until 1963, while also serving as Official Member of the Monetary Board of the

Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

and Alternate Governor for Ceylon in the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers l ...

. In 1963, he was appointed Ceylon High Commissioner to India and served concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal and Afghanistan until he moved to the United Nations in 1967.

United Nations

Amerasinghe was appointed Ceylon's Permanent Representative to the UN in 1967, a post that he would hold until 1980. At the UN, he held several key positions, which included Chairmanship of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction, President of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and chairman United Nations Sea-Bed Committee. Amerasinghe was also the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean, which Sri Lanka proposed be designated as "zone of peace". He has chaired the committee when it was created in 1973. Also, since its creation in 1969, he has been Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories. In 1976, he became the

Thirty-first session of the general assembly. While serving as Permanent Representative, he held concurrent accreditation as Sri Lanka's Ambassador to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He was re-elected chairman of the Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1980 after he had left Sri Lanka's delegation to the United Nations. ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'' styled him the two-million-dollar chairman, after the cost of the conference.

Death

He died on 4 December 1980 in New York, USA. For his services for the Law of the Sea, a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ship in his name has been created by the UN.

References

External links

* * HAMILTON SHIRLEY AMERASINGHE MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP ON THE LAW OF THE SEA * Copyright United Nations, 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Amerasinghe, Hamilton Shirley 1913 births 1980 deaths Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Permanent Representatives of Sri Lanka to the United Nations High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to India Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Nepal Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Afghanistan Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Brazil Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan diplomats Sinhalese civil servants Alumni of the Ceylon University College Alumni of Royal College, Colombo