Sir Francis Sreenath de Zoysa Abeysiriwardena, KC (1874–1942) was a Ceylonese lawyer and statesmen. He was a member of the State Council of Ceylon and a president of the Ceylon National Congress.

Legal career

He was born in the coastal village of Balapitiya, to Demuni Dedrick de Zoysa Abeysiriwardena of Gamakarana Walauwa and Clara Wirasekara from Galhera, Ahungalle. De Zoysa qualified as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. He established a successful legal practice and was appointed a King's Counsel.

Francis de Zoysa

Political career

A president of the Ceylon National Congress, he was elected to the 2nd State Council of Ceylon from Balapitiya in the 1936 general election. In the State Council he introduced the Bribery Act.

Francis de Zoysa

Family

He married Ethel Perera Amarasekera Siriwardena of Ragama Walauwa. Their children were:

Francis de Zoysa

Sydney de Zoysa (former deputy inspector general of police) A. C. de Zoysa (President's Counsel) Violet Rajapakse (married to Tudor Rajapakse of Maha Kappina Walauwa, Balapitiya, pioneer member of Mahila Samithiya) Olga de Zoysa (first Miss Ceylon) Dickie de Zoysa (S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's best man at his wedding) Gwendoline de Zoysa Stanley de Zoysa (former minister of finance) Lucien de Zoysa (cricketer, writer, actor and cricket commentator) Douglas de Zoysa Capt Kenneth de Zoysa Iris Wickremasinghe (first married to Michael de Zoysa Siriwardena, minister in Bandaranaike's cabinet, and then to Anton Wickremasinghe) Olive Amarasekera

References

Sinhalese people

Sri Lankan lawyers

Ceylonese advocates

Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon

Sri Lankan independence activists

Ceylonese Queen's Counsel