Ronnie Abeysinghe
Serjeant-at-Arms of the Sri Lankan Parliament
In office
1970–1996
Preceded byA. J. R. De Silva
Succeeded byWijaya Palliyaguruge
Personal details
Born
Ronald

26 July 1936
Sri Lanka
Died11 February 2002
Colombo, Sri Lanka
SpouseIromi
ChildrenAsika, Devinka, Amal
ResidenceBambalapitiya Flats

Ronald Abeysinghe (also called "Ronnie") (26 July 1936 – 11 February 2002) was the former Serjeant-at-Arms of the Sri Lankan Parliament from 1970 to 1996.[1]

Early life

Abeysinghe was born on 26 July 1936 in Teldeniya, close to Kandy. His father Robert Abeysinghe was a government doctor while his mother, Meraya Goonatillake, hailed from Panadura. He had his education initially at St. John's College, Panadura and then at Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa.[2] He was the eldest of nine siblings.

Career

Abeysinghe joined Parliament 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 of Parliament in the Commonwealth.[3] He served under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, President J. R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Dingiri Banda Wijetunga, and Chandrika Kumaratunge in his service in the parliament. 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 Serjeant-at-Arms 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.[4]

Other activities

Abeysinghe was the President of Automobile Association of Ceylon from 1992 to 1997,[5] and president of the Sri Lanka Powerlifting Association. He was also a former Junior Mister Ceylon and a finalist in the Mister Ceylon contest.[6]

Family

In 1966, he married Iromi, a teacher of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. He was a father of three children. He died on 11 February 2002.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ "Parliament of Sri Lanka - The Department of the Serjeant-at-Arms - Security". www.parliament.lk. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "Online edition of Sunday Observer - Business". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Archived 3 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Bomb attack on Parliament – MP killed, Minister Lalith in critical condition | ලෙයින්, යකඩින් සහ ගින්දරින් මර්ධනය කල 1986-90 භීෂණ යුගයේ සත්‍ය කථා". Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. 1 2 Thenabadu, Sunil (29 February 2004). "Sons & daughters of Sri Lanka : Ronnie Abeysinghe". Online edition of Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Death of Ronnie Abeysinghe". archives.dailynews.lk. 12 February 2002. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
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