Yogendra Duraiswamy,SLOS (1923 – 17 June 1999)[1] was aSri Lankandiplomat, who served in India, Myanmar, the United States (New York), Australia, Iraq, Italy, China and the Philippines.[2]
He was born in 1923 inJaffna toSirWaithilingam Duraiswamy, aspeaker of theState Council of Ceylon. Duraiswamy was educated atJaffna Central College,Jaffna Hindu College and at theRoyal College, Colombo. He entered theUniversity of Ceylon in 1944 and graduated with an Honours Degree in Economics.
In 1949 Duraiswamy joined the newly formedCeylon Overseas Service in the first batch of six cadets, along withVernon Mendis, through a highly competitive examination and selection process.[3] His first overseas appointment was in New Delhi, to which he later returned as Secretary in charge of Public Relations. He opened the Sri Lankan consulate in Chennai.
During his career he served in the Ceylon's embassies in Rangoon, Canberra, Baghdad, Rome, Beijing and Manila.[4] He was the Official Secretary of the Ceylon Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1956 to 1959, when he gained recognition as the spokesman for the Afro Asian Group. In 1970 he was the representative of Ceylon at the Sessions of the UN General Assembly. Duraiswamy participated in the1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement inBelgrade,SFR Yugoslavia in 1961.
He had served as Ceylon's Head of Embassy or Charge d'affairs in Iraq, Italy and the Philippines. In Manila, he was conferred the AncientOrder of Sikatuna in recognition of his exceptional contribution to strengthening relations between Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
In 1975 Duraiswamy retired prematurely. In 1979 PresidentJ.R. Jayewardene appointed him asDistrict Secretary (Government Agent) ofJaffna that then included theKilinochchi District. During his tenure of two years he implemented many infrastructure and employment generation development projects.[5] He later served as a lecturer at theBandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute and participated in civic initiatives to help resolve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and assist the war-affected population. He was active in the Hindu Council which supported grass-roots development interventions in Hindu villages in the Amparai, Batticaloa, Mannar, Trincomalee and Vavuniya districts.
His wife Sivanandini Duraiswamy was the President of the Hindu Women's Society (Saiva Mangaiyar Kalagam) until 2022 and is involved in several educational and development initiatives in Sri Lanka. She was also the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Women's Conference until 2022.[6]His only son, Dr. Naresha Duraiswamy is a Senior Operations Officer at theWorld Bank
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