Mervyn de Silva

Mervyn de Silva (5 September 1929 - 22 June 1999) was a Sri Lankan journalist. He was the Editor in Chief of Lake House and of The Times of Ceylon, editor of the Ceylon Daily News and the Lanka Guardian.[1][2]

Not to be confused with Mervyn Silva.
Mervyn de Silva
Born(1929-09-05)5 September 1929
Died22 June 1999(1999-06-22) (aged 69)
Alma materRoyal College, Colombo
University of Ceylon
OccupationJournalist
Spouse(s)Lakshmi née Fernando
ChildrenDayan Jayatilleka

Early life and family

Mervyn de Silva was born on 5 September 1929.[3][4][5] He was educated at Royal College, Colombo and University of Ceylon (Peradeniya), where he was a contemporary of Felix Dias Bandaranaike.[6] He edited the university newspaper between 1949 and 1953.[3]

De Silva married Lakshmi Sylvia née Fernando on 20 August 1955.[7] They had one child, Dayan Jayatilleka, who is a politician and diplomat.

Career
Mervyn de Silva with
Lalith Athulathmudali,
Hon.Sirimavo Bandaranaike and
Anuradha Dullewe Wijeyeratne

Whilst studying law, de Silva joined Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, popularly known as Lake House, in 1954 as a part-time parliamentary reporter.[3] He became a permanent member of staff at Lake House in 1960 and in 1965 he was appointed deputy editor of The Observer.[3] In 1970 he was appointed editor of the Ceylon Daily News, the country's leading English-language daily newspaper.[3] He was appointed editor-in-chief of the Lake House group of newspapers in 1972.[3] Lake House was nationalised in 1973 and in 1976 de Silva was sacked by the government.[3] He became editor-in-chief of the Times of Ceylon group of newspapers in 1976.[3] The Times of Ceylon group was itself nationalised in 1977 and in 1978 de Silva was sacked by the government again.[3] De Silva founded the Lanka Guardian journal in May 1978 which he continued to edit until his death.[3] During his tenure at the Lake House, Mervyn worked alongside the likes of Willie de Alwis,[8][9] Premil Ratnayake,[10] D. B. Dhanapala[11] and Christie Seneviratne.[12]

During his career de Silva also worked for numerous foreign media including the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist, The Times of India, The Deccan Herald, New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Newsweek, Le Monde Diplomatique, The Guardian, The Christian Science Monitor and Far Eastern Economic Review.[3][6]

He was involved in the establishment of the Council of World Affairs with Major General Anton Muttukumaru and initiated the Foreign Affairs Advisory Group along with Gamani Corea, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Stanley Jayewardene and Gamini Wijesinghe.

Death

De Silva died on 22 June 1999 aged 69.[3][13][14]

References
  1. "The Sunday Times Plus Section".
  2. "73rd birth anniversary : Mervyn de Silva - the Editorialist". Archived from the original on October 25, 2002.
  3. Vijayalakshmi, E. (2001). Crisis Commentaries: Selected Political Writings of Mervyn de Silva. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Centre for Ethnic Studies. ISBN 955-580-058-8.
  4. Jayatilleka, Dayan (6 September 2009). "Sept 5th: Mervyn de Silva's 80th birth anniversary An 80th birth anniversary in postwar Sri Lanka". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  5. "Mervyn de Silva's 77th birthday falls today". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 5 September 2006. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013.
  6. "Tribute to Mervyn de Silva". Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 27 June 1999.
  7. Jayatilleka, Dayan (30 January 2011). "An Apology To My Mother". The Sunday Leader.
  8. "Features | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers". archives.dailynews.lk.
  9. "|| Daily News Online Edition - Sri lanka :: Print Page". archives.dailynews.lk.
  10. "Mervyn de Silva: the feared outsider". archives.sundayobserver.lk.
  11. "The Island". www.island.lk.
  12. "Features | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers". archives.dailynews.lk.
  13. Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (26 June 2012). "Mervyn de Silva: reminiscences about a journalist colossus". Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  14. Jayatilleka, Dayan (22 June 2009). "Mervyn de Silva and the Lankan condition". Daily News (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 19 February 2013.
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