Cissy Cooray,

OBE 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 ...

(8 June 1889 – 6 November 1965) was a Ceylonese social worker and the first woman to be appointed to the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the Parliament of Ceylon, parliament of Dominion of Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It ...

Career

Cooray was a co-founder of the ''Lanka Mahila Samitiya'' in 1931, which has since become the country's largest women's voluntary organisation; she was a member for 35 years and the president for ten years between 1943 and 1953. She was considered a pioneer in the field of maternal and child health in Ceylon. In 1937, Cooray hosted Australian clubwoman Isobel Ritchie, on a visit to see the work of the Social Service League of Colombo. In

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

she was appointed as an

Officer of the 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 ...

, for her work in social welfare services in Ceylon. Cooray was also active in the Ceylon Social Service League and the Girl Guide movement. She served a term as president of the All-Ceylon Women's Buddhist Congress. In 1947 Cooray was appointed as a member of the

a position she retained until 1952. While in the legislature, she worked for improvements in the food supply and in hospital care, including nurse education in rural areas. "Our island is rich, our people are gay and carefree, but we cannot progress until we wipe out illiteracy and ignorance and disease," she declared in 1951. In 1950 Cooray attended an international women's conference in Denmark. In 1952, she traveled to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, for the Pan-Pacific Women's Conference, and with social worker Helen Wickremasinghe to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, for a professional seminar on social welfare.

Personal life

Cooray died on 6 November 1965, at the age of 76. In 1969, the Senior Citizens Home at the Sri Lankadhara Society was opened in her memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooray, Cissy 1889 births Sri Lankan social workers Members of the Senate of Ceylon Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1965 deaths Ceylonese people of World War II Sri Lankan politicians