Somerville was very sorry to hear that Honorary Fellow and first female career diplomat in Sri Lanka, Manel Abeysekera, died on 10 September, aged 93.
Manel Abeysekara
Educated at Methodist College, Colombo, Manel Abeysekera read History at Somerville from 1954. After graduation, she joined the Ceylon Overseas Service, the only woman among eight selected candidates. After training in modern languages at New Hall, Cambridge, she served as Third Secretary at Ceylon’s High Commission in London before moving to be Chargé d’Affaires in Thailand. In all these positions she challenged traditional ideas of diplomacy, proving that it was not a ‘boys’ club’ but a field where intellect, tactics and strategic ability were vital.
In 1974 she returned to Sri Lanka as the first woman Chief of Protocol at the External Affairs and Defence Ministry. In this post, she was contemporary with Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the first woman Prime Minister in the world, helping to redefine leadership domestically and globally. Abeysekera was the powerhouse behind the scenes as Sri Lanka hosted the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in August 1976, a summit which remains the largest gathering of foreign Heads of State and Government ever hosted on Sri Lankan soil. Over 100 countries were represented with Heads of State from Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia to Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Muammar Gaddafi from Libya. It transformed Colombo into the epicentre of Global South politics.
In his tribute to Manel in the Columbo Telegraph, retired Ambassador Sarath Dissanayake comments that she was ‘affectionately known as the “Iron Lady” of Sri Lankan diplomacy’ and ‘was a trailblazing pioneer, an exceptional administrator, and an enduring role model for young diplomats’. Her ‘unparalleled sharp-witted acumen, poise, and determination’, he writes, helped reframe the global perception of Sri Lanka. About the 1976 Summit, he notes:
‘Mrs. Abeysekera approached the task with military precision and relentless thoroughness. It is said she meticulously timed herself to climb aircraft gangplanks precisely every seven minutes to dynamically receive a continuous stream of incoming Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Foreign Ministers. From VIP transport and housing infrastructure to delicate seating arrangements and high-security state banquets, her flawless operation left visiting world leaders dumbfounded and filled with deep admiration. Her stellar performance had such an impact that she was subsequently invited by the government of Cuba to advise their officials on preparing for the following NAM Summit in 1979.’ She commented in an interview for International Women’s Day in 1998, with humorous self-deprecation, that she had to ‘welcome heads of state and present them to the President and Prime Minister … change flags and play the correct national anthems.’ With habitual foresight, Abeysekara recognised the need to embed her experience for future generations, and to that end authored the Foreign Ministry’s Manual of Protocol Procedure.
She continued to serve with distinction as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Thailand and eventually as Ambassador to Germany (with concurrent accreditation to Austria and Switzerland). Her legacy continues in the Sri Lankan diplomatic service. She wrote her memoir, Madame-Sir: Career and Dilemmas of the First Woman Diplomat in the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, and retired in 1993, after 35 years in the Foreign Service.
Manel was the daughter of E.W. Kannangara and the wife of Hector Abeysekera, whom she met in 1973, while working in the UN Research Asian Institute of Economic Development. She was followed to Somerville by her cousin, Kamini Agrell (Dip. Social Anthropology, 1964), who died last year, and Kamini’s daughter, Sophie (Ancient and Modern History, 1992).