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Seevali passes away after decades of silent service
View(s):Dr. Seevali Ratwatte, founder president of the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka and former chairman of the Upali Group of Companies, passed away yesterday after a short illness. He was 91. Dr. Ratwatte was the youngest brother of the late Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Dr. Ratwatte served as her private secretary and shared a bureau at Temple Trees with Bradman Weerakoon who was Secretary to the Prime Minister.
Dr. Seevali Ratwatte
Dr. Seevali Ratwatte’s brother, Mackie Ratwatte later replaced him as private secretary.Born on November 24, 1923, Dr. Ratwatte was fifth in a family of
four sons and two daughters. He was the last surviving member of the family. Dr. Ratwatte, a past pupil of Trinity College, passed out from the Colombo Medical College in 1943 and served as a doctor in the Balangoda and Kahawatte government hospitals, among others. When his sister, Sirima, became Prime Minister, he left the medical service to serve her. After Mackie Ratwatte took over, Dr. Seevali got back to the medical service.
Dr Ratwatte later joined Lever Brothers Ceylon Ltd as a doctor but left when Prime Minister Bandaranaike invited him to head the Export Promotion Secretariat, one of the first government institutions set up to promote exports. When President J.R. Jayewardene formed the Greater Colombo Economic Commission (GCEC), he appointed Dr. Ratwatte as Director (Promotions) of free trade zones and investment. Dr. Ratwatte’s son-in-law, Upali Wijewardene, was Director General of GCEC at the time. Dr. Ratwatte subsequently secured a post in the International Trade Centre, a United Nations body. He was based at the Export Promotion Bureau in Kathmandu, Nepal, as Adviser and Project Coordinator. With the disappearance of Upali Wijewardene, Dr. Ratawatte chaired the Upali Group of Companies till its affairs were settled. He was also the Chairman of the Commonwealth Press Union’s Sri Lanka branch.
He leaves his wife Seetha Rohini Ellawala Ratwatte, his daughters Lakmini Ratwatte Wijewardene Welgama and Eranthi Sirimavo Kelegama, his sons-in-law Nimal Welgama and Dr. Saman Kelegama, and his grandchildren Karishma, Jayathri and Chandana. Yesterday, family members said they remembered him as a kind-hearted and loving man who put family before self. He did not like publicity and maintained a low profile throughout his life, despite having been the brother of the world’s first woman Prime Minister.