Cissy Cooray
{{Short description|Ceylonese social worker and politician}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Cissy Cooray
| image = CissyCooray1952.png
| alt = A South Asian woman, smiling, wearing glasses, with a phone to her ear.
| caption = Cissy Cooray, from a 1952 Australian newspaper.
| birth_date = 8 June 1889
| death_date = 6 November 1965
| known_for = First woman to be appointed to the Senate of Ceylon (1948)
}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2017}}
Cissy Cooray, OBE (8 June 1889 – 6 November 1965) was a Ceylonese social worker and the first woman to be appointed to the Senate of Ceylon.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka|author=Gunawardena, Charles A. (Ed)|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|date=2005|page=89|isbn=9781932705485}}[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/59539539?searchTerm=Ceylon%20woman&searchLimits= "Ceylon's First Woman M. P."] Sunday Times (January 20, 1952): 12. via Trove
Career
Cooray was a co-founder of the Lanka Mahila Samitiya in 1931,{{cite news|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/women.html|title=Women who excelled in social activities and service in Sri Lanka |date=29 August 1999|newspaper=Sunday Times|access-date=22 August 2017}} which has since become the country's largest women's voluntary organisation; she was a member for 35 years and the president for ten years between 1943 and 1953.{{cite journal|title=Handbook of the Lanka Mahila Samiti|publisher=Central Board of the Lanka Mahila Samiti|date= 1983|pages=17–18}} She was considered a pioneer in the field of maternal and child health in Ceylon.{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/204979034?searchTerm=Cissy%20Cooray&searchLimits=|title=Welfare Workers from Ceylon|date=11 January 1952|work=The Argus|access-date=November 28, 2019|page=5|via=Trove}}
In 1937, Cooray hosted Australian clubwoman Isobel Ritchie, on a visit to see the work of the Social Service League of Colombo.{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/41639289?searchTerm=Cissy%20Cooray&searchLimits=|title=Moving Pictures of Ceylon Trip; Miss Isobel RItchie Returns|date=27 April 1937|work=The Advertiser|access-date=November 28, 2019|page=6|via=Trove}} In 1941 she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for her work in social welfare services in Ceylon.{{London Gazette |issue=35184 |date=6 June 1941 |pages=3281–3302 |supp=y}} Cooray was also active in the Ceylon Social Service League and the Girl Guide movement. She served a term as president of the All-Ceylon Women's Buddhist Congress.{{Cite web|url=http://www.acwbc.slt.lk/officeBearers2.html|title=Past Presidents|website=All Ceylon Women`s Buddhist Congress|access-date=2019-11-29}}
In 1947 Cooray was appointed as a member of the Senate of Ceylon a position she retained until 1952.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailynews.lk/2003/03/08/fea01.html|title=Women - the race is yet to be won|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019012116/http://www.dailynews.lk/2003/03/08/fea01.html|first=Neetha S.|last=Ratnapala|newspaper=Daily News|date=8 March 2003|archive-date=19 October 2012|access-date=22 August 2017}} While in the legislature, she worked for improvements in the food supply and in hospital care, including nurse education in rural areas. "Our island is rich, our people are gay and carefree, but we cannot progress until we wipe out illiteracy and ignorance and disease," she declared in 1951.{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23072526?searchTerm=Cissy%20Cooray&searchLimits=|title=Ceylon's Future Lies with her Women|last=Nicholls|first=Nan|date=14 July 1951|work=The Argus|access-date=November 28, 2019|page=2|via=Trove}}
In 1950 Cooray attended an international women's conference in Denmark.{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23026443?searchTerm=Cissy%20Cooray&searchLimits=|title=Women Now in Politics|date=3 November 1950|work=The Argus|access-date=November 28, 2019|page=9|via=Trove}} In 1952, she traveled to Christchurch, New Zealand, for the Pan-Pacific Women's Conference, and with social worker Helen Wickremasinghe to Melbourne, Australia, for a professional seminar on social welfare.{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/137930647?searchTerm=Cissy%20Cooray&searchLimits=|title=Untitled news item|date=14 January 1952|work=Wellington Times|access-date=November 28, 2019|page=1|via=Trove}}{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18259841?searchTerm=Cissy%20Cooray&searchLimits=|title=Women from Asia at Pan-Pacific Meeting|date=January 9, 1952|work=Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=November 28, 2019|page=8|via=Trove}}
Personal life
Cooray died on 6 November 1965, at the age of 76.{{cite journal|title=Parliamentary Debates|volume=22|issue=16–27|publisher=Parliament of Ceylon|page=2732|date=1965}}{{cite news|url=https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2009/11/01/jun01.asp|title=Birth and death anniversaries from November 1 - November 7|newspaper=Sunday Observer|access-date=22 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217102544/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2009/11/01/jun01.asp|archive-date=17 December 2009|url-status=live}} In 1969, the Senior Citizens Home at the Sri Lankadhara Society was opened in her memory.{{Cite news|url=http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=135689|title=Sri Lankadhara Caring For The Needy|date=21 November 2015|work=The Island|access-date=November 28, 2019}}