# Marcus Fernando

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{{Short description|Ceylonese statesman, physician and banker (1864-1936)}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = 
| name               = Sir Marcus Fernando
| image              = H_M_Fernando.jpg
| education          = [University College London](/source/University_College_London)<br>[Colombo Academy](/source/Colombo_Academy)<br>[St Benedict's Academy](/source/St_Benedict's_College_Colombo)
| birth_name         = Hilarion Marcus Fernando
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1864|10|21|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [Colombo](/source/Colombo), [Ceylon](/source/Ceylon) (now Sri Lanka)
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1936|12|18|1864|10|21|df=y}}
| death_place        = Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
| occupation         = Physician, public servant, planter, politician
| spouse             = Mary Frances née de Soysa
}}
'''Sir Hilarion Marcus Fernando''', [FRCP](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_College_of_Physicians) (21 October 1864 – 18 December 1936) was a pre-independence [Ceylonese](/source/Demographics_of_Sri_Lanka) [statesman](/source/politician), [physician](/source/physician) and [banker](/source/banker). He was a member of both the [executive council](/source/Executive_Council_of_Ceylon) and [legislative council](/source/Legislative_Council_of_Ceylon), as well as the [chairman](/source/chairman) of the State Mortgage Bank of Ceylon.

==Education==
Fernando was educated at St Benedicts Academy (later known as [St Benedict's College Colombo](/source/St_Benedict's_College_Colombo)) and the Colombo Academy (which was subsequently renamed [Royal College Colombo](/source/Royal_College_Colombo)). At the Colombo Academy, he won the [Turnour Prize](/source/Turnour_Prize), Junior Cambridge Scholarship and the Mathematical Prize. He received a Ceylon Government Scholarship and Scholarship from the Gilchrist Educational Trust, enabling him to study medicine at [University College London](/source/University_College_London).<ref name=century>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUF_rS8FEoIC&q=Hilarian+Marcus&pg=PA549|title=Twentieth century impressions of Ceylon: its history, people, commerce ... By Arnold Wright page 549-50|access-date=2011-09-03|isbn=9788120613355|last1=Wright|first1=Arnold|year=1999}}</ref><ref name=Oration>{{cite web|url=http://slma.lk/sir-marcus-fernando-memorial-oration/|title=Sir Marcus Fernando Oration|publisher= www.slma.lk |access-date=2011-09-03}}</ref> He graduated with a [BSc](/source/BSc), winning the Atchinson Scholarship and [University of London](/source/University_of_London) [Gold Medals](/source/University_Medal) in Physiology, Medicine, [Forensic Medicine](/source/Forensic_Medicine) and Obstetrics. He graduated with an [MB](/source/Bachelor_of_Medicine) in 1888, an [MD](/source/Doctor_of_Medicine) in 1889, and in 1890, was elected a [Fellow](/source/Fellow) of University College London.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.bmj.com/content/1/3914/91.2.full.pdf|title=Sir H Marcus Fernand0 MD|journal=Br Med J |date=11 January 1936 |volume=1 |issue=3914 |pages=91 |publisher= www.bmj.com|doi=10.1136/bmj.1.3914.91-a |s2cid=220015914 |access-date=2011-09-03}}</ref><ref name=Saga>[https://books.google.com/books?id=d1Ow2SDVN0sC&dq=sir+marcus+fernando+independent&pg=PA51 The Sara Saga], Manicasothy Saravanamuttu (Areca) {{ISBN|9675719036}} pp. 51-3</ref>

==Medical career==
On his return to Ceylon, he served as [Registrar](/source/Registrar_(education)) of the [Ceylon Medical College](/source/Ceylon_Medical_College) and the Superintendent of the De Soysa Maternity Home and was appointed the first [Consultant Physician](/source/Consultant_(medicine)) to be appointed to the [General Hospital Colombo](/source/General_Hospital_Colombo).<ref name=century/><ref name=Oration/> He contributed to scientific discussions on a wide range of diseases, and is associated with a discussion on ''Diabetes in the Tropics'', where he is credited with the observation that it was more common among the affluent Ceylonese.<ref>Bose RKC. Diabetes in the tropics. BMJ 1907; ii: 1053-56.</ref> He was a member of the Ceylon Branch of the British Medical Association, was Secretary from 1891 to 1897, and President in the years 1905 and 1914. He was the founding Director of the Bacteriological Institute in Colombo, and Chemical Examiner to the Government of Ceylon.<ref name="MRI">[http://www.mri.gov.lk/en/home/history/ Medical Research institute, Sri Lanka: History (Official Website)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219211205/http://www.mri.gov.lk/en/home/history/ |date=2014-12-19 }} Retrieved 2015-02-25.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slma.lk/static/viewnl.php?Details=13|title=Sir Marcus Fernando – Knight in medical armour SLMA News September 2010 Volume 3 no 9|publisher=www.slma.lk|access-date=2011-09-30}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Political career==
thumb|right|Sir Marcus Fernando
At the age of 43, he resigned from the medical service to take up a career in business and politics. He contested unsuccessfully for the newly created seat (proposed by Sir [James Peiris](/source/James_Peiris)) in the [1911 legislative council election](/source/1911_Ceylonese_Legislative_Council_election) losing to the conservative, but well known retired government servant, Sir [Ponnambalam Ramanathan](/source/Ponnambalam_Ramanathan),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.lk/columns/What-went-wrong-with-Sri-Lanka-Part-II/4-673732|title=What went wrong with Sri Lanka? (Part II) by Victor Ivan|publisher= Daily FT|access-date=2019-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cR89AAAAMAAJ&q=ramanathan+vellalar|title=Domestic Conflicts in South Asia: Economic and Ethnic Dimensions|last1=Phadnis|first1=Urmila|author-link1=Urmila Phadnis|last2=Muni|first2=Sukh Deo|last3=Bahadur|first3=Kalim|date=1986|publisher=South Asian Publishers|isbn=9788170030713|pages=128|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://rajivawijesinha.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/colombo-changes-9/|title=Colombo Changes|publisher=rajivawijesinha.wordpress.com|access-date=2011-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916011309/http://rajivawijesinha.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/colombo-changes-9/|archive-date=2011-09-16|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/CH18Df04.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010827083810/http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/CH18Df04.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=2001-08-27|title=SRI LANKA: THE UNTOLD STORY Beginning of British Rule By K T Rajasingham |publisher= www.atimes.com|access-date=2011-09-03}}</ref> but subsequently served on both the [Executive Council](/source/Executive_Council_of_Ceylon) and Legislative Councils. Fernando's manifesto had proposed a progressive programme towards industrialisation.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Technical Education in the Imagination of the Ceylonese Developmental State |last=Bandura Dileepa Witharana |publisher=[SAGE Publishing](/source/SAGE_Publishing) |pages=178–9 |doi=10.1177/0972266120180208 |s2cid=200077621 }}</ref> He supported the [Donoughmore Constitution](/source/Donoughmore_Constitution) enabling general elections with adult universal suffrage and was largely responsible for devising wider representation to the Northern Tamils and Eastern Muslims.<ref name=Saga/> Fernando was a former proprietor of ''The Ceylon Independent,'' when the editorial staff included [Noel Gratiaen](/source/Noel_Gratiaen) and [Manicasothy Saravanamuttu](/source/Manicasothy_Saravanamuttu).<ref name=Saga/>

In 1931 the State Mortgage Bank of Ceylon (the first state-owned bank) was established with Sir Marcus Fernando as its chairman.<ref name="Tea">[http://www.historyofceylontea.com/Articles/view/80 Ceylonese Participation in Tea Cultivation: Major constraint for Ceylonese entrepreneurs], by Maxwell Fernando: History of Ceylon Tea Website, Retrieved 5-12-2014</ref> He also assisted to create the [Bank of Ceylon](/source/Bank_of_Ceylon).<ref name=Oration/>
He, along with Sir [James Peiris](/source/James_Peiris) and Sir [Ponnambalam Arunachalam](/source/Ponnambalam_Arunachalam), were instrumental in the creation of the [University of Ceylon](/source/University_of_Ceylon). He was made a [Knight Batchelor](/source/Knight_Batchelor) in the [1923 New Year Honours](/source/1923_New_Year_Honours).<ref name=Oration/> In 1929, he co-founded the [Rotary Club](/source/Rotary_Club) of Colombo.<ref>[http://www.thesundayleader.lk/archive/20031130/review-5.htm Seventy five years of Rotary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071508/http://www.thesundayleader.lk/archive/20031130/review-5.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}, ''The Sunday Leader'', Retrieved 8 January 2016</ref>

==Family==
His father was Andrew Fernando Jr. and his grandfather Andrew Fernando Sr. was the [Mudaliyer](/source/Ceylonese_Mudaliyars) of [Colombo](/source/Colombo).<ref name=century/><ref name=Oration/> In 1891 he married Mary Frances, second daughter of [Charles Henry de Soysa](/source/Charles_Henry_de_Soysa) and Lady de Soysa, they had two daughters and a son.<ref name=century/> [Advocate](/source/Advocate) [Charles Matthew Fernando](/source/Charles_Matthew_Fernando), the first Ceylonese [Crown Counsel](/source/Crown_Counsel) was his brother.<ref>[http://www.sundaytimes.lk/970817/plus5.html  The History of the Ceylon Police] - The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2015-02-25.</ref><ref>[http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140209/sunday-times-2/how-kotelawala-snr-got-young-brother-in-law-killed-84856.html Revisiting Ceylon's first sensational murder trial more than 100 years ago] By Jayantha Gunasekera (Sunday Times). Retrieved 2015-02-25.</ref> His nephews were [Chevalier](/source/Knighthood) [C.H.Z. Fernando](/source/C.H.Z._Fernando), a pioneer labour unionist Councillor and campaigner for [universal suffrage](/source/universal_suffrage), founding the Young Lanka League and the [Ceylon Labour Party](/source/Ceylon_Labour_Party), the only Ceylonese to have met [Lenin](/source/Lenin),<ref>[http://www.dailymirror.lk/101537/who-s-who-of-sri-lanka-the-lives-and-times-of-forty-eight-personalities Who’s Who of Sri Lanka: The lives and times of forty eight personalities], Gamini Akmeemana (Daily Mirror) Retrieved 8 January 2016</ref><ref>[http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19291113-1.2.40.aspx CEYLON'S BATTLE], [The Straits Times](/source/The_Straits_Times) (13 November 1929) Retrieved 2 November 2015</ref><ref name=History>[http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=24263 Traversed new paths making History], Ananda E. Goonesinha (The Island) Retrieved 2 November 2015</ref><ref>[http://www.worldgenweb.org/lkawgw/ephraums4.html “Sons of the Soil and Strangers within the gates”], Joe Simpson (rootsweb) Retrieved 4 November 2015</ref> and [C. M. Fernando](/source/Charles_Matthew_Fernando), a founder member of the [SLFP](/source/SLFP).<ref>[http://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2009/01/11/foc06.asp  C.M. Fernando - Devout Catholic and founder member of SLFP], W. T. A. Leslie Fernando (Sunday Observer) Retrieved 8 January 2016</ref><ref>[http://archives.dailynews.lk/2009/11/16/fea03.asp Charting a new course for Sri Lanka’s success], S. S. Sahabandu (Daily News) Retrieved 8 January 2016</ref>

==Legacy==
The Association Sri Lanka Medical Association commemorates his life through an endowed oration.<ref>Rosenheim ML. The first Sir Marcus Fernando Memorial oration. Ceylon Med J. 1970 Mar;15(1):3-9.</ref><ref name=Oration/> Orators include [Surendra Ramachandran](/source/Surendra_Ramachandran), [Nimal Senanayake](/source/Nimal_Senanayake) and [Hithanadura Janaka De Silva](/source/Hithanadura_Janaka_De_Silva). A hall of residence in the [University of Peradeniya](/source/University_of_Peradeniya) and a road in [Colombo 7](/source/Cinnamon_Gardens) are named after him in his honour.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Members of the 1921 Legislative Council of Ceylon}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Marcus}}
Category:Members of the Executive Council of Ceylon
Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
Category:Sinhalese people
Category:Sri Lankan medical doctors
Category:Sri Lankan bankers
Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians
Category:Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Category:Alumni of University College London
Category:People from British Ceylon
Category:Ceylonese Knights Bachelor
Category:Sri Lankan Christians
Category:People associated with Ceylon Medical College
Category:People from Colombo
Category:1864 births
Category:1936 deaths
Category:Alumni of the UCL Medical School
Category:Alumni of St. Benedict's College, Colombo
Category:De Soysa family

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Marcus Fernando](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Fernando) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Fernando?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.