Deshamanya Deshamanya ( si, දේශමාන්‍ය, translit=Dēshamāṉya; ta, தேசமான்ய, translit=Tēcamāṉya; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a ...

Sivagami Verina "Siva" Obeyesekere (Sivagami; ''née'' Dassenaike; 7 May 1929 – 23 December 2017) was the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

(1976-1977) and 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 ...

from

Mirigama Mirigama (also spelled Meerigama) ( si, මීරිගම; ta, மீரிகம) is a town in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. It is located from Colombo, and from Negombo. Mirigama is the hometown of Sri Lanka's first Prime Minister, D. S. Sen ...

. She is known as the founder of the ''Laksala'' and ''Lakpahana''.

Early life and education

Born at the Dassanayake Walawwe in

to Lois Robert Clifton Dassenaike and Amybelle Charlotte Valerie née Corea, she was educated at

Ladies' College, Colombo (Latin) , motto_translation = This is the victory, even our faith - 1 John 5: 4 , location = 66 Sir Ernest de Silva mawatha, Colombo 7 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Sri Lanka Colombo Municipality , pushpin_image ...

, where she was a hostel prefect and sports captain.

Vijaya Corea Vijaya Corea is a radio and television broadcaster and one of Sri Lanka's most well known media personalities. Corea is a household name in Sri Lanka, synonymous with broadcasting and show business for over four decades, and has often been refer ...

was her half brother and

Gamani Corea Deshamanya Gamani Corea (4 November 1925 – 3 November 2013) was a Sri Lankan economist, civil servant and diplomat. He was also the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and Under-Secretary-General of the ...

was her step-brother. She married

James Peter Obeyesekere III Deshamanya James Peter Obeyesekere III (14 July 1915 – 23 October 2007) was a Sri Lankan politician and aviator. A Senator, he was also a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Finance.Sir James Peter Obeyesekere II,

Maha Mudaliyar The Maha Mudaliyar ( ''Head Mudaliyar'' or මහ මුදලි) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Head Mudaliyar functioned as the head of the low country native headmen and native aide-de-camp to the Governor of Ceyl ...

Political career

Early political work

James and Siva Obeyesekere, supported their kinsmen, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike when he left 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), ...

and formed 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� ...

in 1951, becoming founding members. She assisted her husband in his unsuccessful campaign for the Mirigama electorate in the 1952 general election and in the successful campaign for the Attanagalla electorate in the 1960 July general election. James Obeyesekere would serve as the Parliamentary Secretary of Health and Finance, thereafter he 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 1965.

Handicraft industry

When James Obeyesekere was the member of parliament for Attanagalla from 1960 to 1965, Siva Obeyesekere organized community health programmes in 127 villages in the Attanagalle electorate and actively began to develop handicraft and handloom centres. In 1961, she was appointed Chairman of the Small Industries Board. In 1963, she was appointed the Chairman of the Accommodation Committee and a Member of the Tourist Development Council that drafted the Tourist Development Act. In 1964, she started the Laksala, which was the first Government Cottage Industries Emporium and became the Chairman of its advisory board. She also established the Craftsman's Association of Sri Lanka promoting the Master Craftsman's Apprenticeship Scheme. In 1973, she was elected President of the National Artisans and Craftsman's Association.

Parliament and Minister

She contested the Mirigama electorate in the 1965 general election from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and won the seat defeating Wijayabahu Wijayasinha and entered parliament. She retained her seat in the 1970 general election defeating Professor W. S. Karunaratne. She was appointed Parliamentary Secretary of Health by

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...

in 1970 and was promoted to Minister of Health in 1976 succeeding George Rajapaksa. During her tenure, she introduced the National Family Health Programme, which was later adopted by the United Nations as an international model. Senator

Edward Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

gave her a special award of appreciation for her efforts. In 1973, she was elected Vice President of the Status of Women in Family Planning conference in

Djakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

and lead the Sri Lankan delegation to the World Population Conference in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. She was elected Vice President of the World Health Organization Conference in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

in 1977. However, she was defeated in the 1977 general election in the landslid victory of the United National Party.

Later work

She founded the Lakpahana, a private company that sold local handicrafts. In 1991, President

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( si, රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa'', ta, ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was t ...

awarded her the

title and was elected the first President of the World Craft's Council affiliated to UNESCO. In 1993, she was the "Kamala Saamaan" in memory of Kamala Devi Chattopadyayi of India for the development of Laksala. In 2006, she was appointed National Consultant to the Ministry of Rural Industries and Self-Employment Promotion and was later appointed a

Presidential Adviser Presidential Adviser is a title used by advisers to the President of Sri Lanka. Presidential Advisers are attached to but are not part of the Presidential Secretariat. The title has been used formally since 1990's to differentiate from more seni ...

to President

Mahinda Rajapakse Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

. In 2009, she was appointed to the S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike National Memorial Foundation by President Rajapakse.

Family

Siva Dassenaike married James Obeyesekere and they had two children, James Peter Obeyesekere IV and Chantal De Saram.

References

External links

Deshamanya J.P. Obeyesekere
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obeyesekere 1929 births 2017 deaths Health ministers of Sri Lanka Alumni of Ladies' College, Colombo Sinhalese politicians Women legislators in Sri Lanka Deshamanya Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon