Oliver Goonetilleke
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His Excellency Sir Oliver Goonetilleke GCMG KCVO KBE |
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| ඔලිවර් ගුණතිලක | |
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| 3rd Governor-General of Ceylon | |
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In office 17 July 1954 – 2 March 1962 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury |
| Succeeded by | William Gopallawa |
| 27th Colonial Auditor | |
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In office 25 June 1931 – 16 February 1946 |
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| Preceded by | F. G. Morley |
| Succeeded by | E. Allen Smith |
| Minister of Finance | |
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In office 21 March 1960 – 23 April 1960 |
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| Prime Minister | Dudley Senanayake |
| Preceded by | M. M. Musthapa |
| Succeeded by | Junius Richard Jayewardene |
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In office 14 October 1953 – 18 February 1956 |
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| Prime Minister | John Kotelawala |
| Preceded by | Junius Richard Jayewardene |
| Succeeded by | M. D. H. Jayawardena |
| Minister of Home Affairs & Rural Development | |
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In office 26 September 1947 – 19 June 1952 |
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| Prime Minister | D. S. Senanayake |
| Preceded by | Post Created |
| Succeeded by | A. Ratnayake |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
20 October 1892 Trincomalee, Ceylon |
| Died | 17 December 1978 (aged 86) Colombo Sri Lanka |
| Spouse(s) | Esther Goonetilleke (nee Jayawardena), Lady Phyllis Goonetilleke (nee Miller) |
| Children | Joyce Wijesinghe Shiela Sathananthan Ernie Goonetilleke |
| Profession | Civil Servant |
Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke GCMG KCVO KBE (Sinhala:ශ්රිමත් ඔලිවර් ගුණතිලක) (20 October 1892 – 17 December 1978) was an important figure in the gradual independence of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from Britain, and became the third Governor-General of Ceylon (1954-1962). He was the first Ceylonese individual to hold the vice-regal post.
Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke was born 20 October 1892, fifth child and only son of Alfred Goonetilleke, postmaster at Trincomalee in the northeast of Ceylon. He was educated at Wesley College, Colombo, and served there as an assistant teacher for a short time before joining a bank and there after joining government service of the crown colony of Ceylon as a railway auditor and then went on to become its Auditor-General. He served as Chairman of the Salaries and Cadres Commission also.
He was married to Esther (née Jayawardena) and had three children, Joyce, Shiela and Ernie.
By the 1930s Ceylon was increasingly self-governing in internal matters, and Goonetilleke rose through the administration. With the coming of World War II and the likelihood that Ceylon would face military threat from Japan, Goonetilleke was placed at the head of a new Civil Defence Department as Civil Defence Commissioner in the War Cabinet of Ceylon, a move that proved to be justified when air raids on Colombo and other cities began in the spring of 1942. Sir Ivor Jennings, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, served as Goonetilleke's deputy, and the two worked closely with D. S. Senanayake, the minister of Agriculture and Lands. Those three, the brains trust of the Ceylon government in their time, were nicknamed "the Breakdown Gang" as they began to talk about much besides civil defence, including the steps that might be taken to move Ceylon to complete independence after the War. Eventually they were the leaders who brought the project to fruition, with independence for Ceylon on 4 February 1948, when Senanayake became Prime Minister.
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Wikipedia