IVAN PERIES (1921-1988)

The Collection of Dr Lal Jayawardena and Dr Kumari Jayawardena
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2001

Dr Lal R. Jayawardena (1935–2004) was a well-known economist and diplomat who held several posts with the Sri Lankan government from the 1970s onwards. After serving as the Sri Lankan Treasury Secretary in the 1970s, he was appointed the country's Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands from 1978–82, and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland from 1999–2000. In between, he led the World Institute for Development Economics Research, served as Economic Adviser to the Sri Lankan President and as Deputy Chairman of the Sri Lankan National Development Council. Dr Kumari Jayawardena (B. 1931) is a noted academic and activist, whose book Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World is considered part of the canon of global feminist studies and is taught worldwide. She has held teaching posts at the University of Colombo and the International Institute of Social Studies in the Hague and continues to play an important role in various women's and civil rights groups in Sri Lanka.