Visuvalingam Veerasingam ( ta, விசுவலிங்கம் வீரசிங்கம்; 1892 – 5 December 1964) was a

Ceylon Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

teacher, politician and

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 ...

Early life and family

Veerasingam was born in 1892. He was from

Manipay Manipay or Maanippaai ( ta, மானிப்பாய்) is an affluent town in the northern Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. The original name of Manipay is Periyapulam. It was a mission location when the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) came to S ...

in northern

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 ...

. After school he joined the Ceylon University College, graduating in 1921 with a B.A. degree.

Career

Veerasingam was a teacher at

Manipay Hindu College Manipay Hindu College ( ta, மானிப்பாய் இந்து கல்லூரி ''Māṉippāy Intu Kallūri'', si, මනිපායි හින්දු විද්‍යාලය ''Manipayi Hindu Vidyalaya'') is a provincia ...

before becoming its principal in April 1922. After retiring in 1951 Veerasingam played a key role in the co-operative movement in Jaffna District. He was elected the first president of the Federation of Co-operative Societies, Jaffna District, a position he held until his death. The

Veerasingam Hall Co-operator Veerasingam Hall ( ta, கூட்டுறவாளர் வீரசிங்கம் மண்டபம், si, වීරසිංහම් ශාලාව; commonly known as Veerasingam Hall) is a public hall/office building in ...

, a public hall/office building in

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 ...

owned by the co-operative society, was named after him. Veerasingam contested the 1947 parliamentary election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate in

Vaddukoddai Vaddukoddai (also spelt Vattukkottai, Vatukotai, Vattukotai) ( ta, வட்டுக்கோட்டை, si, වඩුකෝඩයි) is small but important town in the minority group, minority Sri Lankan Tamils, Sri Lankan Tamil dominated J ...

but was defeated by the

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam ask ...

candidate K. Kanagaratnam. He however won the 1952 parliamentary election and entered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Veerasingam was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1952 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1952 were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire and Commonwealth. They were announced on 1 January 1952 for the British Empire, Austra ...

. He died on 5 December 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veerasingam, V. 1892 births 1964 deaths Alumni of the Ceylon University College Ceylonese Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon People from Manipay People from British Ceylon Principals of Manipay Hindu College Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil teachers