Mahapitiyage Velin Peter Peiris,

OBE 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 ...

, LRCP,

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

, (28 July 1898 - 26 April 1988) was a

Ceylon 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 ...

ese orthopaedic surgeon and politician. Peiris received his education at

St. John's College Panadura St John's College is a school in Panadura, Sri Lanka, that was founded in 1876. It is a National school with a student population of 2500 and staff of about 100. History St. John's College was initially known as 'Primary State English School' w ...

and

St Joseph's College, Colombo , motto_translation = In Knowledge and Virtue , location = T. B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , caption = School Facade , pushpin_m ...

, before entering

Ceylon Medical College Ceylon Medical College was a public medical school in Ceylon. The college was established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School. The college was based in Colombo. The college was merged with Ceylon University College in 1942 to form the University ...

qualifying in 1926. After graduation and junior hospital posts he was appointed as a lecturer in anatomy and later lecturer in surgery at

, passing the

Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

in 1929. From 1930 to 1945 he served as a member of the Ceylon Medical Corps, acting as surgeon to the Military Hospital in Ceylon. He served on the staff of the General Hospital, Colombo, from 1936 to 1960 and in 1951 he was elected the President of the

Ceylon Medical Association The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) is the professional association for doctors and surgical professionals in Sri Lanka. It is considered to be the oldest national professional organisation of medical professionals in Austral ...

. Peiris 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

1952 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1952 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 ...

list. Peiris was appointed to the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Counci ...

in 1955, as the representative of the Medical Association. In March 1960 Peiris was appointed as by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

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 Mi ...

as the Minister of Health and Social Sciences, as part of the

Second Dudley Senanayake cabinet The Second Dudley Senanayake cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in 1960. It was formed in March 1960 after the parliamentary election and it ended in July 1960 after the opposition's victory in th ...

. In March 1965 he was appointed as Minister of Commerce and Trade in the

Third Dudley Senanayake cabinet The Third Dudley Senanayake cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake between 1965 and 1970. It was formed in March 1965 after the parliamentary election and it ended in May 1970 after the opposition's ...

In the 1968 cabinet re-shuffle

Hugh Fernando Warnakulasuriya Ichchampullige Hugh Fernando (17 November 1916 -2 April 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician born in Nainamadama. He was the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. In 1952 he contested Nattandiya electorate as an independent candi ...

was appointed the Minister of Commerce and Trade and Peiris was offered and accepted the position of Ceylon's Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1968 and 1969. He was thereafter appointed the High Commissioner to United Kingdom from October 1969 to December 1970.The last hours of a great statesman
/ref>

References

1898 births 1988 deaths Academic staff of Ceylon Medical College Alumni of Ceylon Medical College Alumni of St. John's College, Panadura Alumni of Saint Joseph's College, Colombo Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the Soviet Union Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire Health ministers of Sri Lanka High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom Members of the Senate of Ceylon Sinhalese academics Sinhalese people Sri Lankan medical doctors Sri Lankan politicians Social affairs ministers of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan surgeons Trade ministers of Sri Lanka 20th-century surgeons {{SriLanka-academic-bio-stub

See also

References