Maurice Salvador Sreshta (22 September 1872 - 6 July 1952) served as the Postmaster General of Ceylon from 1923 to 1928. Maurice Salvador Sreshta was born on 22 September 1872 in

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the third son and fourth of seven children to

Dewan Bahadur Dewan Bahadur or Diwan Bahadur was a title of honour awarded during British rule in India. It was awarded to individuals who had performed faithful service or acts of public welfare to the nation. From 1911 the title was accompanied by a special T ...

Alexio Pinto (a government civil servant) and Martha Maria née Vas. He was educated at St. Joseph's College,

Trichinopoly Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

, and then at

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

, before travelling to England where he successfully competed for the Colonial Civil Service in October 1896. He studied 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 The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 26 January 1897. He took a position in

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 ...

, arriving 24 February 1897. He studied law at the

and was

on 26 January 1897. He took a position in

, arriving 24 February 1897. He legally changed his last name from Pinto to Sreshta (Sreshta being Nepalese for "the best"). Sreshta held numerous positions including Assistant to the Government Agent, Eastern Province (1898); Additional Police Magistrate,

Tangalle Tangalle ( Sinhala තංගල්ල , ta, தங்கல்லை) (also known as Tangalla) is a large town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is one of the largest towns in southern provinc ...

(1900); Police Magistrate, Panadure (1900) Police Magistrate, Advisewella (1901); Police Magistrate,

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Souther ...

(1905); Commissioner of Requests, Colombo (1907); District Judge,

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

(1911); District Judge,

Negombo Negombo (, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in Western Province, from Colombo via Colombo - Katunayake Expressway. Negombo is one of the major commercial hubs in the country and ...

(1917); District Judge, Kurunegala (1920); and Registrar General. In February 1923, Sreshta reached the culmination of his career when he was appointed as Postmaster General of Ceylon, the first non-European to attain this position. During his tenure he re-organised the postal system, established the first rural telephone exchange, and motorised the mail services thereby expediting the conveyance of mail all over the country. In 1928 following his retirement, he returned to

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

, where in 1929 he was elected vice-chairman of the Mangalore Municipality and then in February 1932 as a member of the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

, as the Indian Christian nominee, representing the Justice Party. He lost his seat at the subsequent election in January 1937. Sreshta was an active member of various Catholic bodies and for a number of years served as the editor of the community magazine, ''Mangalore''. Shreshta married Lucy Saldanha (1892-1960), the daughter of Sylvester S. S. Saldanha and Christine née Mascarenhas. They had seven children. He died on 6 July 1952, at age 79, in Madras.

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Sri Lanka Post
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shreshta, Maurice Salvador 1872 births 1952 deaths Presidency College, Chennai alumni Postmasters General of Sri Lanka Indian civil servants Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Justice Party (India) politicians Mangalorean Catholics Sri Lankan people of Indian descent People from British Ceylon

See also

References

External links