Ronald Abeysinghe (also called "Ronnie") (26 July 1936 – 11 February 2002) was the former Serjeant-at-Arms of the Sri Lankan Parliament from 1970 to 1996.

Early life

Abeysinghe was born on 26 July 1936 in Teldeniya, close to

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

. His father Robert Abeysinghe was a government doctor while his mother, Meraya Goonatillake, hailed from

Panadura Panadura ( si, පානදුර, translit=Pānadura; ta, பாணந்துறை, translit=Pāṇantuṟai) is a city in Kalutara District, Western Province in Sri Lanka. It is located approximately south of Colombo and is surrounded on ...

. He had his education initially at St. John's College, Panadura and then at

Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa Prince of Wales' College ( Sinhala: වේල්ස් කුමර විද්‍යාලය ''Wels Kumara Vidyalaya'', Tamil: பிரின்ஸ் ஆஃப் வேல்ஸ் கல்லூரி) is a selective entry boys' school ...

. He was the eldest of nine siblings.

Career

Abeysinghe joined

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in 1961 when he was appointed Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms. In 1970, he was promoted when he was appointed as Serjeant-at-Arms. He remained in the position for 26 years, a record for the most senior Serjeant-at-Arms of

in the Commonwealth. He served under

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 i ...

Sirimavo Bandaranaike,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

, Ranasinghe Premadasa,

Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga ( si, ඩිංගිරි බණ්ඩා විජේතුංග, ta, டிங்கிரி பண்ட விஜேதுங்க; 15 February 1916 – 21 September 2008) was the fourth Presid ...

, and

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

in his service in the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. He was mainly responsible for all ceremonial occasions as the master of ceremonies in Parliament, preservation of order, custody of the Mace, security, admission of visitors, allocation of accommodation within the House and supervision of the galleries. The Serjeant-at-Arms is responsible for the overall security of the Parliamentary Estate. He was in charge of the security of the members of the parliament when a JVP member attacked the house killing one MP and injuring Minister

Lalith Athulathmudali Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, PC (; 26 November 1936 – 23 April 1993), known as Lalith Athulathmudali, was a Sri Lankan statesman. He was a prominent member of the United National Party, who served as Minister of Trade and Sh ...

Other activities

Abeysinghe was the President of Automobile Association of Ceylon from 1992 to 1997, and president of the Sri Lanka Powerlifting Association. He was also a former Junior Mister Ceylon and a finalist in the Mister Ceylon contest.

Family

In 1966, he married Iromi, a teacher of

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

. He was a father of three children. He died on 11 February 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abeysinghe, Ronnie 1936 births 2002 deaths Serjeants-at-Arms of the Parliament of Sri Lanka