Samson Felix Amarasinghe,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, CCS (7 July 1902 - 19??) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n civil servant. Graduated from the Ceylon University College in 1922, with a BA degree. Amarasinghe joined 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 the ...

in 1926 by appointment of the

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies. History The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increasi ...

. He served a cadet in the

Kalutara Kalutara ( si, කළුතර, ta, களுத்துறை) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south o ...

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and ac ...

and as the office assistant to Government Agent, Eastern Province. Promoted to Class 4 Officer, he served as a Police Magistrate in Dandagamuwa, Negambo, Kandy; office assistant at the Badulla and Kurunagala Kachcheri. In 1935 he was appointed Additional Assistant Government Agent of Colombo before spending time at the Summer School, Oxford. He thereafter served in the Food controllers office and did stints as Assistant Government Agent in Mannar, Vavuniya, Kegalle and Acting Government Agent Sabaragamuwa, Uva, North Central and Central Province. He served as the Land Commissioner from 1948 to 1950,

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...

, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands from 1950 to 1952, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands from 1952 to 1953, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Trade from 1954 to 1956 and

Permanent Secretary to the Treasury The UK Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is the most senior civil servant at HM Treasury. The post originated as that of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury in 1805; that office was given new duties and renamed in 1867 as a Permanent Secretaryship ...

from 1956 to 1961. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

1949 Birthday Honours The 1949 King's Birthday Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made "on the occasion o ...

. His brother C. W. Amarasinghe, was the Professor of Classics at the University of Sri Lanka and his cousin

Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, CCS (18 March 1913 – 4 December 1980) was a Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant. He was High Commissioner to India and concurrently Ambassador to both Nepal and Afghanistan (1963–1967) and Permanent Secretar ...

succeeded him as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury in 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amarasinghe Sinhalese people Sri Lankan civil servants 1902 births Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the Ceylon University College Alumni of the University of Oxford Year of death missing Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan expatriates in the United Kingdom