Susantha De Alwis (died 22 December 2008) 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, ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, the former Sri Lankan

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the United States, Japan, South Korea and former Permanent Representative to United Nations (Geneva). 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 ...

where he won many prizes including the Governor's Scholarship, De Abrew Memorial Scholarship, Principal's Distinctions Prize and the Best Speaker's Prize. He entered the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, where he was the President of the Law Society and General Secretary, Arunachalam Hall. After graduating with an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree, he joined the Ceylon Overseas Service. Later he gained a scholarship to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

to read for a

BLitt BLitt may refer to: * Bachelor of Letters, a second bachelor's degree awarded in Australia, Brazil, UK, and US * Bachelor of Literature, the statutory bachelor's degree in literature studies awarded in China {{Disam ...

degree in International Laws at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

. He was a barrister-at-law from

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

.International Club, The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) February 14, 1974, page 11, accessed November 30, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7668467/international_club_the_capital/ During his career in the foreign service De Alwis has served as Assistant High Commissioner for Ceylon in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

(1962–66); Chargé d'Affaires of the Ceylon's Embassy in Indonesia; First Secretary of Ceylon's embassy in Washington DC (1970–74). In 1974 he was appointed as Sri Lankan Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, a post he held till 1978. In 1973 he was a signatory of

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...

. In 1978, he was chairman of the Co-ordinating Bureau of Non-Aligned Countries. From 1980 to 1983 he served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Japan and South Korea and Ambassador for Sri Lanka in the United States from 1986 to 1992. In 1987, he was elected chairman of the

International Telecommunications Satellite Organization The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) is an intergovernmental organization charged with overseeing the public service obligations of Intelsat, which was privatized in 2001. It incorporates the principle set forth i ...

.Intelsat OKs Dean Burch as chief. Washington Times (Washington (DC), District of Columbia) Thursday, April 2, 1987, Page: 19 His brothers Dunstan De Alwis was a lawyer and

President's Counsel A president's counsel ( postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka as an individual "learned in the law". The term is an honorific that replaced the Queen's Counsel (QC), which Sri Lanka ceased appointing ...

and Dr Stanmore De Alwis a Thoracic Surgeon. Of his sisters eldest Sushila De Silva was a teacher at Yashodara Balika, Borella, Dr Thelma Gunawardene was the former Director of the

Colombo National Museum The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importance ...

and Dr Daisy Jayawickrema former Medical Officer, CPC. He was married to Achala and had two daughters, Chamini, Darshini and a son Ruvan. He died at his home in

Bambalapitiya Bambalapitiya is a southern coastal neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The area also known as Colombo 4, spans about along Galle Road. The western boundary of the suburb is the Indian Ocean and it is bordered to the east by Havelock Town, t ...

on 22 December 2008.

External links and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Alwis, Susantha Sinhalese people Sri Lankan civil servants Sri Lankan diplomats Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Japan Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to South Korea Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States Permanent representatives of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva 2008 deaths Year of birth missing