Professor C. C. de Silva An Appreciation

Professor C. C. de Silva

Appreciation on his 119^th Birth Anniversary

By Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya MBE

Professor C. C. de Silva was born on 24^th February 1904. He was a member of an aristocratic family; his father was Dr W H de Silva, the first Ceylonese Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, in the field of Ophthalmology. His mother was the daughter of Sir Charles Henry de Soysa.

He studied initially at Bishops College and later at St. Thomas College Mt. Lavinia. After studying medicine for one year in Ceylon, he continued his medical studies at the University College London. Initially, he practised as a General Practitioner in Dehiwela and was appointed the first Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Ceylon in 1949. He was the second Paediatrician to be appointed to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, Colombo, the first being Dr L. O. Abeyratne. He was also the first Professor of Paediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya.  

He was the Founder Chairman of Durdans Hospital, Colombo. In 1961, he was the President General of the Ceylon Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also closely associated with the activities of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka from its inception. He chaired the National Committee of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign and the Meals for Millions Campaign Foundation of Ceylon. He was also the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Christian Missionary Schools, which included Ladies College, Trinity and Mowbray in Kandy and Chudikuli Girls School and St John’s College in Jaffna. He used to visit these schools regularly. In 1951, he was associated with establishing the Children’s Convalescent Home in Thalagolla and later functioned as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The writer happens to be its current Chairman. 

The first book he published was titled “Mother, Your Baby” in collaboration with Mrs Visvanathan, which was meant for young parents. When we clerked under him at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital in the mid-1960s, all of us were compelled to purchase a copy of his book, priced at Rs. 4.50.He travelled extensively during his academic career and published a book titled “Out Steppes A Don”, after a visit to Russia. His autobiography, “Life as I Lived It”, was published in 1987, and its first copy was presented to him by his daughter Mrs Ilika Karunaratne, the night before he died on the 20th of May 1987. A few weeks before he died, he asked me whether I could give him a lift for the annual dinner of the Sri Lanka Paediatric Association. I visited his residence Ellora, in Green Path, Colombo 7, together with my late wife Buddhika; he shared a drink of brandy with me before leaving his residence to travel for the dinner. Sadly, he passed away a few weeks later. That happens to be the lasting memory I have of this remarkable personality!

May he Rest In Peace!

Professor Sanath P. Lamabadusuriya MBE

Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics

University of Colombo 

Note: His full name was Percival Cholmondeley Chalmers de Silva

Kumar's Poetry Korner

                                                 THE VILLAGE BELLE

Kumar Gunawardane

 

I pass by,

In the comfort of a motor,

She is knee-deep in a rice paddy,

I wave,

She smiles.

 

It was the week before, at midnight,

That I delivered her first child,

She had asked for me,

I, who cared and comforted,

Her everyday.

 

In the dank , dismal room,

Lit by a solitary naked bulb,

I held her hand tightly,

The midwife did the rest.

 

Unclad ,

Apart from a diaphanous blouse,

Wide open,

Golden skin .

Glistening with sweat,

Body worn out,

But still ethereal.

 

She holds the infant to her breast,

I walk away,

Slowly, sadly.

We are worlds apart.

The Generosity of one of our Batchmates-Dr Sunanda (Jimmy) Wickremasinghe

The Generosity of one of our Batchmates-Dr Sunanda (Jimmy) Wickremasinghe

This email was copied to me by Prof Lama. We think it is worth sharing on the blog. I usually meet Jimmy now and again at our London mini-reunions and the Big Ones in Sri Lanka. He is a regular for these gatherings and is always entertaining and generous. As most of you know, Jimmy has finally retired after over 50 years as a GP in the UK. He was highly skilled and respected. Jimmy was featured in a blog post on Dec 14^th, 2016. (type Jimmy in the search bar to access it).

Prof Sanath Lama’s email

"Jimmy and Kathy spent about a month in Sri Lanka, based at the Shangrila Hotel.  I met the two of them several times. I suppose you (Asoka Dissanayke) were unaware of this and therefore missed them. Jimmy told me that he left the country soon after the results were released, because there was a compulsory period of service. He had felt rather guilty about it , because after benefiting from free education, he had not served the country. When he came to know that I was closely involved with the setting up of the Sabaragamuwa Medical Faculty, he was keen on establishing a bursary for a deserving student, in memory of his late father. As his father had been from Hikkaduwa, he wanted a student from that area. I displayed a notice and called for applications; out of 10 applicants, I chose Thilina Madushanka who is from Bentota and studied at Ananda Sastralaya Matugama. His father is an unskilled labourer doing odd jobs such as cooking.

For Thilina to receive about Rs. 5000.00 per month, Jimmy and his family deposited about a million rupees in a fixed deposit. With the depreciation of the rupee and interest rates increasing, Thilina receives about Rs. 18,000.00 a month, and he sends any remaining funds to his parents.  

Thilina represented the Sabaragamuwa Medical Faculty cricket team in the inaugural match against the Wayamba Medical Faculty, which the former won.

Thilina obtained distinctions in all three subjects at the 2nd MBBS examination and got a First Class.In the 3rd MBBS Part1 examination, he got distinctions in both subjects,Microbiology and Parasitology; Part 2, no distinctions and obtained a Second Upper Class

Both Jimmy and myself are undoubtedly very happy with his progress so far."