Muthu Coomaraswamy

Muthu Coomaraswamy
Personal details
Religion	Hindu

Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy, FRGS (Tamil: முத்து குமாரசுவாமி) (January 23, 1833–1879) was a prominent colonial era legislator from Sri Lanka. He was the first native Asian and Sri Lankan to be knighted by Queen Victoria.^[1]

He was born to Gate Mudaliyar Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy (1783–1836) of Point Pedro, who was of Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry. Educated at Colombo Academy (now Royal College, Colombo) from 1842 to 1851, where he won the Turnour Prize in 1851 and was the Editor of the college magazine. He joined the Ceylon Civil Service as a cadet, went on to become a police magistrate, assistant government agent of Mullaitivu. He apprenticed under Richard Morgan and was called to the bar as Advocate of the supreme court in 1856. In 1861 he was elected as a member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon. Resigning from CCS to left for England in May 1862, where he became a Barrister after he was called to the bar at the Lincoln's Inn in 1863 and returned to Ceylon in 1865. In 1867 he became an advocate High Court of Madras. On August 11, 1874 he became the first Asian and Ceylonese to be Knighted.^[2] He was a member of the CMC from 1868 to 1873.

He was married to Elizabeth Clay Beeby of Kent, England in 1877.^[1] He was the father of Indologist Ananda Coomaraswamy.

Works of Coomaraswamy

• Ariyachandra 1863
• Dathawansa 1874
• Translated Sutta Nipata into Tamil 1874 Tayumanavar
• Translated Ariyachandra Drama into English.

See also

• List of political families in Sri Lanka

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Sorkhabi, Rasoul (2008-02-10). "Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: From geology to philosophia perennis". Current Science (Bangalore: Indian Academy of Sciences) 94 (3): 394–401. http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102008/394.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-23. 
2. ^ NANNITHAMBY E Mudaliyar of Manipay - Family #5017

Persondata
Name	Coomaraswamy, Muthu
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 23, 1833
Place of birth
Date of death	1879
Place of death