{{Short description|Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant (1913–1980)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | native_name = {{nobold|හැමිල්ටන් ෂර්ලි අමරසිංහ}} | native_name_lang = si | image = | image_size = 250px | office1 = [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]] | term_start1 = 1976 | term_end1 = 1976 | predecessor1 = [[Gaston Thorn]] | successor1 = [[Lazar Mojsov]] | office2 = [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India|High Commissioner for Ceylon to India]] | monarch2 = [[Elizabeth II]] | prime_minister2 = [[Sirimavo Bandaranaike]] | term_start2 = 1963 | term_end2 = 1966 | predecessor2 = [[Richard Aluwihare]] | successor2 = [[Siri Perera]] | birth_date = 18 March 1913 | birth_place = [[Colombo]], [[Ceylon]] | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1980|12|04|1913|03|18}} | death_place = [[Sri Lanka]] | spouse = | party = | alma_mater = [[University of London]], <br />[[University College Colombo]], <br />[[Royal College, Colombo]] | occupation = Diplomat, Civil servant }}
'''Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe''', [[Ceylon Civil Service|CCS]] (18 March 1913 – 4 December 1980) was a Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant. He was [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India|High Commissioner to India]] and concurrently Ambassador to both Nepal and Afghanistan (1963–1967) and [[Permanent Secretary]] of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and the Ministry of Health. Amerasinghe served as Ceylon's [[Permanent Representative]] to the United Nations 1967 to 1980 and served as [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]] in 1976. He was also one of the leaders of the negotiations to draft the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]].
Amerasinghe was the close cousin of famed Sri Lankan nation builder [[Samson Felix Amarasinghe]],OBE, (correct spelling Amerasinghe).They were close allies throughout his life.
==Education== Born in [[Colombo]], on 18 March 1913 and hailing from a noble family from Galle. He was educated at [[Royal College Colombo]] and went to the [[Ceylon University College]], he took a [[first class honours]] [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] degree in Western Classics in 1934 from the [[University of London]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The First 15 Years of the Ceylon University College. 1921 to1935 |url=https://issuu.com/kanagagnana/docs/pdf_ceylankan_article |website=issuu.com |date=10 April 2020 |access-date=4 August 2021}}</ref>
==Career== ===Civil Service=== Amerasinghe joined the [[Ceylon Civil Service]] in 1937, starting a career that would span 44 years. As a cadet, he served in the Kegalle [[Kachcheri]], as the Additional Police Magistrate in Kegalle and office assistant, Jaffna Kachcheri. Promoted an officer, he served in the Puttalam, Mannar and Vavuniya Kachcheri, before appointment as Secretary to the Minister of Health in 1941. He then served as Assistant Controller of Imports and Exports, Assistant Government Agent, Kegalle, Rathanapura and Matale. He was then Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In 1950, he was appointed Resident Manager of the Gal Oya Development Board in 1950. Two years later, he was sent on his first overseas appointment as Counsellor of Embassy of Ceylon in Washington, DC, from 1953 to 1955. From 1955 to 1957, he was the Controller of Establishments, General Treasury. In 1958, he became the Controller of Finance, Supply and Cadre, General Treasury. The same year, he was appointed as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Nationalized Services and Road Transport as well as Chairman of the Port (Cargo) Corporation.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ceylon Civil List 1954 |publisher=Government of Ceylon |location=Colombo}}</ref>
In 1961, Amerasinghe became [[Secretary to the Treasury (Sri lanka)|Secretary to the Treasury]] and [[Permanent Secretary]] to the [[Minister of Finance (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Finance]], succeeding his cousin [[Samson Felix Amarasinghe]] and held that post until 1963, while also serving as Official Member of the Monetary Board of the [[Central Bank of Ceylon|Central Bank]] and Alternate Governor for Ceylon in the [[International Bank for Reconstruction and Development]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cbsl.gov.lk/pics_n_docs/11_edu/_docs/Article_Retrospect.pdf |title=CENTRAL BANK OF SRI LANKA RETROSPECT 1950 TO 2010 |access-date=2015-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923201214/http://www.cbsl.gov.lk/pics_n_docs/11_edu/_docs/Article_Retrospect.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1963, he was appointed Ceylon High Commissioner to India and served concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal and Afghanistan until he moved to the United Nations in 1967.
===United Nations=== Amerasinghe was appointed Ceylon's Permanent Representative to the UN in 1967, a post that he would hold until 1980. At the UN, he held several key positions, which included Chairmanship of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction, President of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and chairman United Nations Sea-Bed Committee. Amerasinghe was also the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean, which Sri Lanka proposed be designated as "zone of peace". He has chaired the committee when it was created in 1973. Also, since its creation in 1969, he has been Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories.
In 1976, he became the [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]] Thirty-first session of the general assembly.
While serving as Permanent Representative, he held concurrent accreditation as Sri Lanka's Ambassador to [[Brazil]].
He was re-elected chairman of the Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1980 after he had left Sri Lanka's delegation to the United Nations. ''[[The Economist]]'' styled him the two-million-dollar chairman, after the cost of the conference.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka |first=Charles A. |last=Gunawardena |pages=14–15 |edition=Revised |year=2005 |publisher=New Dawn Press Group |location=[[Elgin, Illinois]] |isbn=19327-054-81 |access-date=27 March 2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hWLQSMPddikC&dq=Shirley++Amerasinghe+-wikipedia+-fellow+-fellowship&pg=PA14}}</ref>
==Death== He died on 4 December 1980 in New York, USA. For his services for the Law of the Sea, a [[fellow]]ship in his name has been created by the UN.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)|The Sunday Times]] |title=When Ambassador Amerasinghe upset the Egyptians |date=4 July 2010 |first=Neville |last=de Silva |publisher=[[Wijeya Newspapers|Wijeya Newspapers Ltd]] |location=[[Colombo, Sri Lanka]] |url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100704/News/nws_25.html |quote=.}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Sri Lankan Non Career Diplomats]]
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links== {{refbegin}} *{{cite web |year=1976 |access-date=27 March 2014 |url=http://huwu.org/ga/54/president/bios/bio31.htm |title=UN General Assembly – President of the 62nd Session – Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe (Sri Lanka) }}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} *{{citation |title=H.S. Amerasinghe Fellowship |date=24 August 2012 |access-date=27 March 2014 |publisher=United Nations, division for oceans & law of the sea |url=https://www.un.org/Depts/los/technical_assistance/hsa_fellowship/amerasinghe_fellowship.htm |quote=The Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship (HSA) was established in 1981, in memory of the late Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, the first President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1973–1980), in recognition of his contribution to the development of the law of the sea. The late Ambassador Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe of Sri Lanka had been Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee to Study the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and Ocean Floor from 1967 to 1970 and subsequently, of the Standing Committee for the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction, from 1970 to 1973}} HAMILTON SHIRLEY AMERASINGHE MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP ON THE LAW OF THE SEA *{{cite AV media | date =3 December 1973 | title =Statement by Mr. Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe (Sri Lanka), elected President, Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, 1st meeting | url =http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/uncls/video01.2.html | access-date =27 March 2014 | location =United Nations Headquarters, New York | publisher =Codification Division, Office of Legal Affairs }} Copyright United Nations, 2013 {{refend}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box |before=? |after=? |years=1953–1955 |title=[[Counsellor (diplomat)|Counsellor]], Embassy of Ceylon in Washington, D.C.}} {{succession box | before=[[Gaston Thorn]] |title=[[President of the United Nations General Assembly]] | years= 1976 | after=[[Lazar Mojsov]] }} {{succession box | title=Ceylon's [[High Commissioner]] to India | before=? | after=? | years=1963–1965}} {{succession box |before=? |after=? |years=1963–1965 |title=Ceylon's ambassador to Nepal}} {{succession box |before=? |after=? |years=1963–1965 |title=Ceylon's ambassador to Afghanistan}} {{succession box | title=Ceylon's [[Permanent Representative]] to the UN | before=? | after=? | years=1967–1980}} {{succession box |before=? |after=? |years=1973–? |title=[[Sri Lankan Ambassador to Brazil]]}} {{s-end}} {{Presidents of the UN General Assembly}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amerasinghe, Hamilton Shirley}} [[Category:1913 births]] [[Category:1980 deaths]] [[Category:Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly]] [[Category:Permanent representatives of Sri Lanka to the United Nations]] [[Category:High commissioners of Sri Lanka to India]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Nepal]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Afghanistan]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Brazil]] [[Category:Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka]] [[Category:Sinhalese people]] [[Category:Alumni of the Ceylon University College]] [[Category:Alumni of Royal College, Colombo]]