Deshamanya Deshamanya (; ; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a civil honour. It is awarded for "''highly meritorious service''", and is conventionally used as a title or prefi ...

James Peter Obeyesekere III (14 July 1915 – 23 October 2007) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n politician and aviator. A

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

, he was also a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Finance.Obeyesekere family, Sri Lankan Sinhalese Family Genealogy
/ref>

Early life and education

Born to Sir

James Peter Obeyesekere II Sir James Peter Obeyesekere II, Maha Mudaliyar, JP (1879–1968) was a Ceylonese colonial-era headmen. He was the last Head Mudaliyar and served as aide-de-camp to the British Governor of Ceylon and Governor General of Ceylon. Born to ...

, a barrister who was an advocate of the colonial era Supreme Court of Ceylon and served as the last

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 Ceylon. ...

(the chief native interpreter and adviser to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of captain-majors of Portugue ...

). His grandfather was Sir James Peter Obeyesekere I. Royal College Colombo main building

Educated at the

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

, Obeyesekere went on to study at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

gaining a MA. There he was a member of the

Cambridge Union Society The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a historic Debate, debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. The society was founded in 1815 making it the ...

and of the Debating Team of Trinity College. An accomplished sportsman, he was awarded a half blue in athletics at Cambridge, later becoming a certified athletics coach and excellent horseman and equestrian. He went on to become a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

Aviation

With the outbreak of

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 joined the

Cambridge University Air Squadron Cambridge University Air Squadron, abbreviated CUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Cambridge and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. It is the oldest of 15 University Air Squad ...

becoming a qualified pilot, he was invited to join the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

as a pilot, however he turned down the offer and instead joined the

Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 Decembe ...

. In November 1946, he flew his single-engined Auster Autocrat home to Ceylon from England, becoming the first Ceylonese to make such a flight. Throughout the epic journey, Obeyesekere was accompanied by Sqdn. Ldr. Roderick A.F. Farquharson in an identical Auster. Farquharson's not insignificant role in that epic flight was described in contemporary newspaper reports and early articles by Obeyesekere himself. His aviation interests were also strong as he was the Chairman of the Colombo Flying Club until its takeover by the government. He gave his Auster to the Ceylon Air Academy for civilian pilot training. The aircraft was destroyed in a fatal accident on March 11, 1971, but nearly 40 years later it was rebuilt for static display at the Sri Lanka Air Force Museum, Ratmalana in memory of his flight from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Racing

A racing enthusiast, he competed in many racing events in Sri Lanka, India and England. He won the Grand Prix de Lanka. He was the vice patron of the Classic Car Club of Ceylon and was the only Asian to be elected an Honorary Life Member of the prestigious Bentley Drivers’ Club. He was also members of the

British Automobile Racing Club The British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) is one of the biggest organising clubs for auto racing, motor racing in the United Kingdom. History The Cyclecar Club was formed in 1912, running races for the small and light Motorcycle, motorbike pow ...

and of the Cambridge University Automobile Club. Obeyesekere was very active in the scout movement and was a former president of the Sri Lanka Scout Association.

Political career

James Obeyesekere and his wife Siva, supported their kinsmen,

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...

when he left the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

and formed the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

in 1951, becoming founding members. He contested the parliamentary seat of

Mirigama Mirigama (also spelled Meerigama) (; ) is a suburb in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. It is located from Colombo, from Kurunegala and from Negombo. Mirigama is the hometown of Sri Lanka's first Prime Minister, D. S. Senanayake and former speake ...

in the 1952 general election, but lost. After S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was assassinated in 1959, he contested from his constituency the Attanagalla electorate in the 1960 July general election and entering parliament. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's widow,

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (; ; ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government, world's first fe ...

who became prime minister, appointed Obeyesekere as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and thereafter Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. He did not contest the 1965 general election, stepping down in-favor of Sirimavo Bandaranaike to take over her late husband's constituency, in return Obeyesekere was appointed a

serving until the Senate was abolished in 1971. His wife entered politics in 1965 contesting from the Mirigama electorate, which was her hometown. He contested the 1977 general election from

and was defeated by Mahendra Wijeratne. In 2006, he was conferred the national honour of

by President

Mahinda Rajapakse Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

Family

He married Sivagami Dassanaike, they had two children, James Peter IV and Chantal.

Bibliography

References

External links

Deshamanya J.P. Obeyesekere
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obeyesekere, J P Health ministers of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan aviators Sri Lankan Buddhists Members of the Senate of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of Royal College, Colombo People of the Royal Observer Corps 1915 births 2007 deaths Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians Ceylonese military personnel of World War II Deshamanya