Thomas Amarasuriya,

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 ...

(17 June 1907 – 5 May 1979) was a

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, ...

ese planter and politician. He was a member of the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...

and President of 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 ...

.Remembering Thomas Amarasuriya on his 100th birth anniversary
/ref> He was the first Ceylonese

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the Planters Association and a brother of H. W. Amarasuriya. Thomas Amarasuriya was born on 17 June 1907 at Amaragiri

Walauwa Walauwa or walawwa is the name given to a feudal/Colony, colonial manor house in Sri Lanka of a Native headmen of Ceylon, native headmen. It also refers to the feudal social systems that existed during the colonial era. The term walauwa is derive ...

to the wealthy Amarasuriya family in Unawatuna, Galle. His father Henry Mahendrapala Amarasuriya was a proprietor, shipping merchant and independence activist. His mother was Caroline de Silva. Both his grandfathers

Muhandiram Muhandiram (, ) was a post in the native headmen system in the lower-country (coastal districts) of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during the colonial era. It was awarded as a title of honor until suspension of Ceylonese honours in 1956. History The post ...

Thomas de Silva Amarasuriya and Juanis de Silva were wealthy businessman of

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

. His elder brother was Henry Woodward Amarasuriya. He had two other brothers; Francis and Buddhadasa and three sisters Susima, Irene and Amara. Amarasuriya attended

Mahinda College Mahinda College is a Buddhist boys' school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established on 1 March 1892 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. As of today it is a National school (Sri Lanka), national school whi ...

, Galle, his grandfather being one of its founders,Mahendra Amerasuriya to be elected President Lions international
By Walter Jayawardhana (Asian Tribune) and later joined

Ananda College Ananda College () is a Prestigious Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is often known as "The Pinnacle of buddhist education " It is the largest national Buddhist school for boys in Sri Lanka, with a student population exceeding 8000 ac ...

. At Ananda he played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

for the school and was a leading light in the debating team. He studied agriculture at

Wye College The College of St Gregory and St Martin at Wye, commonly known as Wye College, was an education and research institution in the village of Wye, Kent. In 1447, Cardinal (Catholic Church), Cardinal John Kempe founded his chantry there which also ...

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 ...

and took over the management of some of the extensive plantations of his parents. The Amarasuriyas were pioneers of low-country tea. In 1932 he married Lucille Gwendoleen Lois, the daughter of M. J. C. Fernando, the well known Buddhist leader of Moratuwa and founder of Moratu Maha Vidalaya. From 1932 he took to politics and was elected to the Galle Municipal Council which he served for 10 years. During this period he was instrumental in moving for the establishment in 1939 of a Vagrants Home in Galle. He was a member of the executive committee of the Ceylonese Merchants Chamber and of the Lanka Mahajana Sabha. He was a member of the board of management of the Galle Industrial Institute and the president of the YMBA and also a member of the Friend-in-Need Society, Galle. In 1942 Amarasuriya became the vice president of the Moratuwa Maha Jana Sabha. He allocated funds for extension work to the Princess Louise Hospital that had been donated by Sir

Charles Henry de Soysa Charles Henry de Soysa Dharmagunawardana Vipula Jayasuriya Karunaratna Disanayaka popularly known as Charles Henry de Soysa, JP (3 March 1836 – 29 September 1890) was a Ceylonese entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was a pioneering planter, i ...

. In 1953 he was elected a member of the

and was appointed

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 ...

(OBE) in the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in '' The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The rec ...

for his services for the plantation industry. Earlier a member of 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 ...

, Senator Amarasuriya resigned from that party in 1959 and joined 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 ...

and late Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. On 5 November 1963 he was unanimously elected President of the Senate, which post he held until his retirement in 1965. In 1956 the Planters Association of Ceylon broke a 102-year-old tradition to elect Senator Thomas Amarasuriya as the first Ceylonese

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

. He was also the president of the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

and served as the vice president Buddhist Theosophical Society. He died on 5 May 1979 at the age of 72. He had five daughters and three sons including Hemaka Amarasuriya, Mahendra Amarasuriya and Sepala Amarasuriya. All Ceylon cricket captain Sargo Jayawickrama was his cousin.SSC honours Sargo Jayawickrama today
By Saadi Thawfeeq

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amarasuriya, Thomas Sri Lankan planters Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon Members of the Senate of Ceylon Presidents of the Senate of Ceylon Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Mahinda College 20th-century landowners Alumni of Wye College