Mangala Nath Moonesinghe (27 July 1931 – 23 July 2016) 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 lawyer and politician. He served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Bulathsinhala electorate between 1965 and 1977, and the Kalutara electorate between 1989 and 1994. He was Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2002 and Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India from 1995 to 2000.

Early life and education

Born on 27 July 1931, the son of Sanath Moonesinghe, his paternal grandfather was Jacob Moonesinghe from Walgama, Matara married Dona Engeltina Hewawitharana, younger sister of

Anagarika Dharmapala Anagārika Dharmapāla (Pali: ''Anagārika'', ; Sinhala: Anagārika, lit., si, අනගාරික ධර්මපාල; 17 September 1864 – 29 April 1933) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist and a writer. Anagarika Dharmapāla is not ...

. He was a cousin of

Anil Moonesinghe Anil Moonesinghe (15 February 1927 – 8 December 2002) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist revolutionary politician and trade unionist. He became a member of parliament, a Cabinet Minister of Transport in 1964, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 199 ...

and the nephew of Neel Kamal Hewavitharana. He entered

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 ...

in 1943 and excelled in athletics as a sprinter, pole vaulter and in cricket. After completing his schooling, he went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to study law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

and was called to the bar as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

Legal career

On his return from London, he was enrolled as an advocate 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 ...

and started his

legal practice Legal practice is sometimes used to distinguish the body of judicial or administrative precedents, rules, policies, customs, and doctrines from legislative enactments such as statutes and constitutions which might be called "laws" in the strict s ...

which he continued into the 1980s. He lectured on company law at the

Ceylon Technical College Maradana College of Technology is the oldest technical college in Sri Lanka. Formally known as the Ceylon Technical College which was an institution of higher education for Technical and Scientific fields in Ceylon and a government department. It ...

between 1960 and 1963. In 1975, he was awarded an

Eisenhower Fellowship Eisenhower Fellowships is a private, non-profit organization created in 1953 by a group of prominent American citizens to honor President Dwight D. Eisenhower for his contribution to humanity as a soldier, statesman, and world leader. The organiza ...

to study

space law Space law is the body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. Parameters of space law include space exploration, liability for damage, weapons use, rescue efforts ...

Western State University College of Law Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the American Bar Association. Western State pays a fee to receive service ...

Political career

Drawn to leftist politics with his cousin

he developed a close association with Dr

N. M. Perera Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, commonly known as Dr. N. M. Perera ( Sinhala එන්.එම්.පෙරේරා ; 6 June 1904 – 14 August 1979), was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). He w ...

and Dr Colvin R. de Silva. Moonesinghe contested the 1960 March general elections in the Bulathsinhala electorate from the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா� ...

(LSSP), but was defeated by Bibile Fonseka from the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

. Although the conditions were favorable in the 1960 July general elections, the LSSP selected

Edmund Samarakkody Edmund Peter Samarakkody (19 April 1912 – 4 January 1992) was a Ceylonese lawyer, trade unionist, politician and Member of Parliament. Early life and family Samarakkody was born on 19 April 1912, the fifth of seven children to Charles Peter ...

to contest Bulathsinhala and he was elected. By 1965, Samarakkody had left the LSSP and Moonesinghe was selected by the party to contest the Bulathsinhala electorate in the 1965 general elections and he was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and was a member of the opposition. He was re-elected from Bulathsinhala in the 1970 general elections and became part of the governing coalition. He left the LSSP in the mid 1970s and joined the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

. He was defeated in the 1977 general elections. He contested the 1989 general elections in the Kalutara electorate from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was re-elected to parliament. In 1991, he chaired the Parliamentary

select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...

on the

ethnic conflict An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positi ...

(known as the ''Mangala Moonesinghe Committee''), gaining consensus among the Sinhala and Tamil members of parliament in the committee. He contested the 1994 general elections, but failed to gain enough preferential votes to be re-elected to parliament, although his party won the election and formed a new government.

Diplomatic service

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party government of

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

appointed Moonesinghe as Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India in 1995 and he served till 2000, when he was appointed

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom is the Sri Lankan envoy to United Kingdom. Countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations typically exchange High Commissioners, rather than Ambassadors. Though there are a few technical ...

, where he served until 2002, when the Sri Lanka Freedom Party government was defeated in the 2001 general elections.

Later life

Following his return from the United Kingdom; he served as chair of the ''One Text Initiative'', Chairman of Marga Institute and was a director of the

Carson Cumberbatch Carson Cumberbatch PLC is one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka which also has business interests in Indonesia, Malaysia, and India. The company has its origin in the colonial era, having been founded by merging two companies founded by ...

& Co. He died in 2016 at the age of 84.

Personal life

Moonesinghe married Gnana Coomaraswamy. They had a son and a daughter. They lived at Park Road,

Battaramulla Battaramulla is a suburb of Colombo, situated from the city centre at Colombo Fort, near the Parliament of Sri Lanka. It is one of the fastest developing administrative, commercial and residential areas in the Colombo District, being home to th ...

, before settling at

Havelock City Havelock City is a large mixed-use real-estate project in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Residential component of the project consists of 8 residential towers and the Commercial component of the project consists of a 46-storey office tower and a Shopp ...

. Dr Kumaran Ratnam was his brother-in-law.

References

External links

Q&A With HC Mangala Moonesinghe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moonesinghe, Mangala 1931 births 2016 deaths Sinhalese lawyers Sri Lankan barristers Ceylonese advocates Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Members of the Middle Temple High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to India High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians