V. Coomaraswamy

Sir Velupillai Coomaraswamy, CMG, CCS (25 September 1892 – 13 November 1972) was a Ceylonese civil servant and diplomat.

This article is about the Ceylon Tamil civil servant and diplomat. For the Ceylon Tamil politician and Member of Parliament, see V. Kumaraswamy.
Sir V. Coomaraswamy

CMG CCS
Ceylonese High Commissioner to Canada
Personal details
Born(1892-09-25)25 September 1892
Died13 November 1972(1972-11-13) (aged 80)
ProfessionCivil servant
EthnicityCeylon Tamil

Early life and family

Coomaraswamy was born on 25 September 1892.[1] He was the son of Velupillai from Vaddukoddai in northern Ceylon.[1] Coomaraswamy passed the London Interscience Examination after school.[1]

Coomaraswamy married Thayalnayaki, daughter of M. Sinnathamby.[1] After Thayalnayaki's death he married Nesamani, daughter of J. T. Bartlett.[1]

Career

Coomaraswamy worked as teacher before joining the Ceylon Civil Service in 1913.[1] He was Police Magistrate and District Judge in Puttalam, Negombo, Kegalle and other places.[1] He was then Assistant Government Agent in Hambantota before moving to Colombo where he held a number of positions including Permanent Secretary.[1] He was Government Agent for the Western Province from January 1946 to December 1947 and again from February 1948 to October 1949.[2] He was the first native Government Agent of the province.[3]

Later life

Coomaraswamy served as the Deputy Ceylonese High Commissioner in London in 1948.[1][4] He was later the Ceylonese High Commissioner in Ottawa and Ceylonese Minister and Envoy Extraordinary in Rangoon.[1]

Coomaraswamy was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1947.[5] He was knighted in the 1952 New Year Honours.[6][7]

Coomaraswamy died on 13 November 1972.[8]

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See also
  • Sri Lankan Non Career Diplomats

References
  1. Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 44.
  2. "Name List of The Government Agent's". Colombo District Secretariat.
  3. "Book Review: 'There's No Place Like Home'". The Island (Sri Lanka). 5 November 2000.
  4. "Third Supplement". The London Gazette (39844): 2504. 1 May 1953.
  5. "Second Supplement". The London Gazette (37977): 2576. 6 June 1947.
  6. "Fourth Supplement". The London Gazette (39424): 45. 28 December 1951.
  7. "London Gazette". The London Gazette (39594): 3748. 11 July 1952.
  8. "Coomaraswamy, Sir Velupillai". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
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