Nationality Ceylonese Profession Lawyer | Political party United National Party Party United National Party | |
Edmund Frederick Lorensz "Fred" de Silva, MBE was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He was the Mayor of Kandy, Member of Parliament and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to France.
Born to George E. de Silva a prominent lawyer and legislator, he was educated at Hillwood Girls' School (Hillwood College, Kandy); Trinity College, Kandy and at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, where he was classmates of Dudley Senanayake. He returned to Trinity College for his final year. In 1931 he won the Open Law Scholarship to Ceylon Law College and became a proctor in 1935 and started his practice at his father's firm De Silva & Karunaratne. In 1950 became an Advocate and was called to bar from the Gray's Inn in 1959 as a Barrister. He also played rugby union for C.R. & F.C. and Kandy Sports Club and was the President of the Kandy YMCA.
In 1939 he was elected to the Kandy Municipal Council and was elected Mayor of Kandy in 1947. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his humanitarian work during the 1947 floods. In 1954, de Silva was elected the Member of Parliament for Kandy and held the post till 1957.
From 1968 to 1971 he served as Ceylon's Ambassador to France and was the head of the Sri Lanka's Delegation to UNESCO from 1968 to 1971. He was elected to the governing body (executive board) of the UNESCO. He was the Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya from 1990 to 1993.
His son is Sir Desmond de Silva, former United Nations Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra Leone.