Manel Abeysekera
Irangani Manel Abeysekera | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sri Lanka |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Years active | 1957–1993 |
| Known for | Sri Lanka's first female career diplomat; Ambassador to Germany and Thailand |
Irangani Manel Abeysekera holds the distinction of being Sri Lanka's pioneering female career diplomat. She represented Sri Lanka as Ambassador to both Germany and Thailand.
Education
The daughter of notable civil servant E. W. Kannangara, Abeysekera completed her schooling at Methodist College, Colombo. She pursued history at Somerville College, Oxford and subsequently studied modern languages at New Hall, Cambridge. Somerville College has honored her with an Honorary Fellowship.
Diplomatic career
Upon finishing her studies at Oxford in 1957, Abeysekera entered the newly established Ceylon Overseas Service as the sole woman among eight successful candidates, marking her as Sri Lanka's inaugural female diplomat. After receiving language instruction at Cambridge, she was assigned as Third Secretary to Ceylon's High Commission in London. Between 1970 and 1974, she held the position of Charge d’Affaires in Thailand. Upon returning to Sri Lanka, she assumed the role of Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence, where she was instrumental in coordinating the 1976 Non-Aligned Summit and authored the Foreign Ministry’s Protocol Procedure Manual.
Her subsequent appointments included serving as Ambassador to Thailand, Director General of the Press and Publicity Division within the Foreign Ministry, and ultimately Ambassador to Germany with concurrent accreditation to Austria and Switzerland. She concluded her Foreign Service career in 1993.
Currently, Abeysekera acts as a Consultant for Foreign Service Training at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, operating from the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, while also providing expertise as a Consultant on Gender and Development.
Family
She is married to Hector Abeysekera, who has served as a diplomat for the United Nations.