Ronald Abeysinghe (also called "Ronnie") (26 July 1936 – 11 February 2002) was the former

Serjeant-at-Arms of the Sri Lankan Parliament The Serjeant-at-Arms of the Sri Lankan Parliament is a parliamentary official responsible for order in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The office was established in 1948 on the model of the Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons and traditionally ...

from 1970 to 1996.

Early life

Abeysinghe was born on 26 July 1936 in

Teldeniya Teldeniya( තෙල්දෙණිය) was a town in Kandy District in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. The town was submerged during construction of the Victoria Dam. See also *List of towns in Central Province, Sri Lanka Central Province ...

, close to

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

. His father Robert Abeysinghe was a government doctor while his mother, Meraya Goonatillake, hailed from

Panadura Panadura (; ) is a main city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province in Sri Lanka. It is located approximately south of Colombo. Panadura was an electoral district in Sri Lanka until 1989 and is surrounded all sides b ...

. He had his education initially at

St. John's College, Panadura St. John's College is a school in Panadura, Sri Lanka, that was founded in 1876. It is a National school with a student population of 3500 and staff of about 150 History St. John's College was initially known as 'Primary State English School' w ...

and then at

Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa Prince of Wales' College ( Sinhala: වේල්ස් කුමර විද්‍යාලය ''Wales Kumara Vidyalaya'', Tamil: பிரின்ஸ் ஆஃப் வேல்ஸ் கல்லூரி) is a selective-entry boys' scho ...

. He was the eldest of nine siblings.

Career

Abeysinghe joined

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 ...

in 1961 when he was appointed Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms. In 1970, he was promoted when he was appointed as Serjeant-at-Arms. He remained in the position for 26 years, a record for the most senior

Serjeant-at-Arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-ar ...

in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. He served under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa''; ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician and statesman who served as the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 unt ...

Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Sri Lankabhimanya Dingiri Banda Wijetunga (; ; 15 February 1916 – 21 September 2008) was the fourth President of Sri Lanka from 7 May 1993 to 12 November 1994, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 3 March 1989 to 7 May 1993 and the Governor of No ...

, and Chandrika Kumaratunge in his service in the

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 ...

. He was mainly responsible for all ceremonial occasions as the master of ceremonies in Parliament, preservation of order, custody of the Mace, security, admission of visitors, allocation of accommodation within the House and supervision of the galleries. The

is responsible for the overall security of the Parliamentary Estate. He was in charge of the security of the members of the parliament when a JVP member attacked the house killing one MP and injuring Minister

Lalith Athulathmudali Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, PC (; 26 November 1936 – 23 April 1993), known as Lalith Athulathmudali, was a Sri Lankan politician. He was a prominent member of the United National Party, who served as Minister of Trade and Sh ...

Other activities

Abeysinghe was the President of Automobile Association of Ceylon from 1992 to 1997, and president of the Sri Lanka Powerlifting Association. He was also a former Junior Mister Ceylon and a finalist in the Mister Ceylon contest.

Family

In 1966, he married Iromi, a teacher of

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

. He was a father of three children. He died on 11 February 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abeysinghe, Ronnie 1936 births 2002 deaths Serjeants-at-Arms of the Parliament of Sri Lanka