Sir Arthur Godwin Ranasinha, CMG,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, CCS (24 June 1898 – 19 June 1976) was a Sri Lankan civil servant and statesmen. A career civil servant in the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of th ...

, he served as

Secretary to the Treasury In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure ...

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

and Governor of the Central Bank of Ceylon before apportionment as a Cabinet Minister and Senator. He had also served as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy.

Education

Ranasinghe was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. He was a Ceylon University Scholar in 1917 and gained

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in history from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Civil service

He was appointed to the

as a

Cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

in January 1921 by the

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire. The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...

in London having been placed seventh in the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

admission exam in 1920. On his return to the island, he was attached to the

Kegalle Kegalle (; ) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo–Kandy road, approximately from Colombo, from Kandy, from Kurunegala and from Avissavella. It is the main town in the Kegalle District, which i ...

kachcheri and was attached to the

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

kachcheri in 1922 and was appointed

Police Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''Roman magistrate, magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and pos ...

Point Pedro Point Pedro, also known as Paruthithurai (; ) is a town, located in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. I ...

in 1923. Promoted to Class 4 officer, he served as a Police Magistrate in Balapitiya and Jaffna. In 1928, he was Promoted to Class 3 officer and served as District Judge in

Avissawella Avissawella (, ) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, approximately 40 km air distance and 48.1 km road distance fr ...

and

Badulla Badulla (, ; ,) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is located in the southeast of Kandy, almost enci ...

. Promoted to Class 2 officer, he served as Additional Assistant Government Agent of Colombo before being appointed as Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture and Lands from 1933 to 1936 when he was appointed

Public Trustee In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served as Custodian of enemy property. In 1944, he was promoted to class 1 officer and appointed Superintendent of Census and in 1945 he served as Secretary to the D. S. Senanayake, Leader of the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...

on his mission to London to discuss the report by the

Soulbury Commission The Soulbury Commission ( ''Solbari Komisyan Sabawa''; ) was a prime instrument of constitutional reform in British Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) that succeeded the Donoughmore Commission. It was announced in 1944 and headed by Herwald Ramsboth ...

with the

and negotiate for self-rule in Ceylon. He also served as acting Commissioner of Lands. In 1947, he was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and acting Superintendent of Census. In 1950 he was appointed

and Deputy Secretary to the Treasury. In 1951, he was appointed

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

to the Ministry of Finance, Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary to the Cabinet, serving till 1954. He also served as Secretary to the Cabinet Planning Committee and Chief Planning Commissioner from 1953 to 1954. In 1954, he was appointed Governor of the Central Bank which he held until 1959. He served as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy and Greece from 1959 to 1961, with concurrent accreditation as Ceylon's Permanent Representative to

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

(FAO).

Honors

He was appointed a

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 1948 New Year Honours, a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) in 1949 Birthday Honours and was knighted in the 1954 New Year Honours as a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

. He was awarded the

King George VI Coronation Medal The King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir of King George VI's coronation. It was awarded to th ...

in 1937 and the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal () is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family ...

in 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranasinghe 1898 births 1976 deaths Government ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the Senate of Ceylon Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Governors of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ceylonese Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Ceylonese Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Ceylonese Knights Bachelor Sinhalese people District Courts of Sri Lanka judges Magistrates of Sri Lanka Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Alumni of the University of London Indian Civil Service (British India) officers

Education

Civil service

Honors

See also

References