Susantha De Alwis (died 22 December 2008) 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 ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

, the former Sri Lankan

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the United States, Japan, South Korea and former

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 United Nations (Geneva). Educated at the

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 ...

where he won many prizes including the Governor's Scholarship, De Abrew Memorial Scholarship, Principal's Distinctions Prize and the Best Speaker's Prize. He entered the

University of Ceylon, Peradeniya The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

, where he was the President of the Law Society and General Secretary, Arunachalam Hall. After graduating with an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree, he joined the

Ceylon Overseas Service The Sri Lanka Overseas Service (SLOS) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවය; śrī laṁkā vidēśa sēvaya) which is most commonly referred to as the ''Sri Lanka Foreign Service'' is the foreign service of Sri Lank ...

. Later he gained a scholarship to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

to read for a

BLitt Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second undergraduate university degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been t ...

degree in International Laws at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...

. He was a barrister-at-law from

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

.International Club, The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) February 14, 1974, page 11, accessed November 30, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7668467/international_club_the_capital/ During his career in the foreign service De Alwis has served as Assistant High Commissioner for Ceylon in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(1962–66); Chargé d'Affaires of the Ceylon's Embassy in Indonesia; First Secretary of Ceylon's embassy in Washington DC (1970–74). In 1974 he was appointed as Sri Lankan Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, a post he held till 1978. In 1973 he was a signatory of

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly INTEL-SAT, INTELSAT, Intelsat) is a multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States. Originally formed as In ...

. In 1978, he was chairman of the Co-ordinating Bureau of Non-Aligned Countries. From 1980 to 1983 he served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Japan and South Korea and Ambassador for Sri Lanka in the United States from 1986 to 1992. In 1987, he was elected chairman of the

International Telecommunications Satellite Organization The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) is an intergovernmental organization charged with overseeing the public service obligations of Intelsat, which was privatized in 2001. It incorporates the principle set forth ...

.Intelsat OKs Dean Burch as chief. Washington Times (Washington (DC), District of Columbia) Thursday, April 2, 1987, Page: 19 His brothers Dunstan De Alwis was a lawyer and

President's Counsel President's Counsel (postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka to be one of the "President's Counsel learned in the law". The term is also recognized as an honorific which replaced the practice of appoi ...

and Dr Stanmore De Alwis a Thoracic Surgeon. Of his sisters eldest Sushila De Silva was a teacher at Yashodara Balika, Borella, Dr Thelma Gunawardene was the former Director of the

Colombo National Museum The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importanc ...

and Dr Daisy Jayawickrema former Medical Officer, CPC. He was married to Achala and had two daughters, Chamini, Darshini and a son Ruvan. He died at his home in

Bambalapitiya Bambalapitiya is a southern coastal neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The area also known as Colombo 4, spans about along Galle Road. The western boundary of the suburb is the Indian Ocean and it is bordered to the east by Havelock Town, t ...

on 22 December 2008.

External links and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Alwis, Susantha Sinhalese people Sri Lankan civil servants Sri Lankan diplomats Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Japan Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to South Korea Permanent Representatives of Sri Lanka to the United Nations 2008 deaths Year of birth missing