Miliani Sansoni

{{Short description|Chief Justice of Ceylon from 1964 to 1966}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Miliani Sansoni |native_name = |native_name_lang = |alt = |caption = |office = 32nd Chief Justice of Ceylon |nominator = |appointer = William Gopallawa |term_start = 1964 |term_end = 1966 |predecessor = Hema Henry Basnayake |successor = Hugh Norman Gregory Fernando |birth_date = 1904 |birth_place = |death_date = 1979 |death_place = |party = |other_party =  |spouse = Phyllis Ondaartje (1930 – 1979?) |partner =  |relations = |children = 2 (Tania, Miliani Philip) |alma_mater = Royal College Colombo |signature = |signature_alt = |website = }}

Deshamanya ''' Miliani Edward Claude Sansoni''' (18 November 1904 – 1979) was a Ceylonese judge, who served as the 32nd Chief Justice of Ceylon.

==Early life and education== He was born on 18 November 1904 to Claude Aldons Sansoni, JP, a Proctor and Hilda Gratiaen, daughter of Edward Stork Gratiaen, Colonial Surgeon, Ceylon Medical Department and Sophia Jane Vander Smagt. He had a brother, Hildon Claude Sansoni, and a sister, Sylvia Carmen, who married Clinton Bryan Fernando. His brother, Hildon, was a proctor and a lieutenant in the Ceylon Royal Navy Reserve, who served as an extra aide-de-camp to the governor general of Ceylon. Hildon married the artist Barbara Sansoni, who founded the Barefoot textile design company.<ref name="DBU1">{{cite web |title=GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY OF SANSONI OF CEYLON |url=https://thedutchburgherunion.org/genealogy/ancestry-s/JDBU%201959%20Vol%2049%20No%201-2%20p35%20-%20Sansoni%20Ancestry%281%29.pdf |publisher=Dutch Burger Union of Ceylon |accessdate=6 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Barbara honoured |url=http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=157068 |accessdate=6 October 2019 |publisher=Island}}</ref> She gave birth to two sons; Dominic and Simon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ARTRA {{!}} Sri Lanka's Art & Design Magazine {{!}} BARBARA SANSONI EDITION – COMPOSING ARCHITECTURE |url=https://www.artra.lk/visual-art/barbara-sansoni-edition-composing-architecture |access-date=2022-04-25|website=www.artra.lk}}</ref>

Sansoni was educated at Royal College Colombo, where he was the editor of the ''Royal College Magazine''. He graduated from the University of London with a BA degree and was called to the bar as a barrister from the Gray's Inn. On his return to Ceylon, he was enrolled as an advocate.<ref>[http://www.island.lk/2000/09/30/satmag04.html Royal College Magazine].</ref>

==Judicial career== After practicing the unofficial bar, he was appointed Acting Magistrate, Dandagamuwa in December 1937 and thereafter Acting Magistrate, Kandy. He joined the Ceylon Judicial Service on 1 July 1939, on probation in the Class II, Grade I as Magistrate, Kandy and was confirmed in service on 1 July 1940. Promoted to Class II, Grade III on 1 April 1942, he was appointed District Judge, Tangalle. He went on to serve as District Judge, Batticaloa (28 August 1944); Acting District Judge, Badulla (16 April 1945); Acting District Judge, Panadura (19 August 1946); District Judge, Kegalle (15 January 1947); Additional District Judge, Colombo (1 April 1949). He was promoted to Class I, Grade II on 1 January 1946, Supernumerary Officer (Class I, Grade II) on 1 March 1948 and Officer Class I, Grade I in March 1949 in the Ceylon Judicial Service. Between March 1949 and September 1953, he served as Additional District Judge, Colombo; Acting District Judge, Colombo and District Judge, Colombo. On 15 September 1953 he was appointed Commissioner of Assize and promoted to officer Special Class in the Ceylon Judaical Service on 9 November 1953. He was thereafter appointed to the Supreme Court of Ceylon as a Puisne Justice.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Ceylon Civil List 1954 |publisher=The Government Press |location=Ceylon}}</ref>

He was appointed in 1964 as Chief Justice of Ceylon succeeding Hema Henry Basnayake and served as Chief Justice until 1966. He was succeeded by Hugh Norman Gregory Fernando. He chaired the ''Sansoni Commission'' that investigated the riots of 1977.<ref name=JSCS>{{cite web|title=Overview |url=http://www.jsc.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=60&lang=en |publisher=Judicial Service Commission Secretariat |accessdate=19 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019091817/http://www.jsc.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=60&lang=en |archivedate=19 October 2013 }}</ref>

==Honors== He was conferred the national honour of the title of Deshamanya in the first ever Independence Day National Honours list in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Awards|url=http://www.presidentsoffice.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89&Itemid=236|publisher=Presidential Secretariat – Sri Lanka|accessdate=9 November 2013}}</ref>

==Family== He married Phyllis Frances Ondaartje daughter of Aelian Owen Morgan Ondaartje, JP, UM, a Proctor and Elsie Thompson Staiunton at the St. Michael's and All Angels' Church, Colombo on 4 October 1930. They had a daughter, Tania Sansoni and son, Miliani Philip Sansoni.<ref name="DBU1"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=44138 "A Historic Injustice" A Response to Nihal Jayawickreme’s article in the Sunday Island of 15.1.2012] *[http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=45578 A Response To Nihal Jayawickreme]

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Hema Henry Basnayake}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief Justice of Ceylon|years=1964–1966}} {{s-aft|after=Hugh Norman Gregory Fernando}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sansoni, M}} Category:1904 births Category:Year of death missing Category:20th-century Sri Lankan people Category:Burgher people Category:Sri Lankan lawyers Category:Sri Lankan barristers Category:Chief justices of Ceylon Category:Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Category:Alumni of the University of London Category:Members of Gray's Inn Category:Deshamanya Category:Sri Lankan people of Dutch descent Category:Sri Lankan people of Italian descent