Ernest Corea
Encyclopedia
Early life
Kurana
Kurana is a village in the city of Negombo, close to Katunayake in the island of Sri Lanka. It is on the Katunayake-Colombo road and a few miles from the Bandaranaike International Airport. People live in Kurana are belong to various kinds of nationalities and religions.Vernon Corea's father,...
, Katunayake
Katunayake
Katunayake , is a town situated on the west coast of the island of Sri Lanka near Negombo and close to the commercial capital of Colombo. It is the site of Bandaranaike International Airport, the primary international air gateway to Sri Lanka...
in Ceylon
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
His parents were Reverend Canon Ivan Corea and Ouida Corea, and was the brother of Vernon Corea
Vernon Corea
Vernon Corea was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation...
a pioneering broadcaster with Radio Ceylon
Radio Ceylon
Radio Ceylon is the oldest radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis in Ceylon by the Telegraph Department in 1923, just three years after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe.- Edward Harper :...
/SLBC and Ethinic Minorities Adviser to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Rev. Corea was Rural Dean of Colombo in the Church of Ceylon
Church of Ceylon
The Church of Ceylon, which is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka, was established with the appointment of its first Bishop, Rt Rev James Chapman in 1845 as the Bishop of Colombo.-The Dioceses of Colombo and Kurunegala:...
, Vicar of St. Luke's Church Borella
St. Luke's Church Borella
St. Luke's Church is situated in the Borella district of Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The church plays an important role within the history of the Church Missionary Society on the island and still remains a dominant figure within the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka.-Service of...
, and St. Paul's Church, Milagiriya
Milagiriya
Milagiriya is a district of Colombo city in Sri Lanka. The area took its name from the Sinhalised form of the Portuguese word "Milager," or Miracle...
.
His family hailed from the west coast town of Chilaw
Chilaw
Chilaw is a western seaboard town on the island of Sri Lanka.It is a bustling town with a famous fishmarket and beach...
in Sri Lanka and were direct descendants of King Dominicus Corea
Dominicus Corea
Dominicus Corea also known as Domingos Corea and Edirille Rala, was the son of Don Jeronimo Corea and Anna Corea. Don Jeronimo Corea was also known as Mudaliyar Vikramasinha, Commander-in-Chief of King Mayadunne's army....
, also known as Edirille Rala who was crowned King of Kotte and Sitawaka in 1596.
Ernest Corea was educated at the well known educational institution Royal College, Colombo and the University of Peradeniya
University of Peradeniya
The University of Peradeniya is a world renowned state university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University Grants Commission...
.
Media
He was a leading journalist with the Lake House Group in Colombo, rising to the top as Editor of the Ceylon Daily News and the Ceylon Observer. The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon is the largest newspaper group in South Asia. Corea was appointed Features Editor and a Foreign Affairs Columnist at the well known South-East Asian newspaper, the Singapore Straits Times in the 1970s.Diplomat
High Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and served as Sri Lanka's Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Ambassador Corea presented his credentials to U.S.President Ronald Reagan at the White House, in Washington D.C. He spearheaded the first ever State Visit to the United States of a Sri Lankan Head of State when President Junius Richard Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene , famously abbreviated in Sri Lanka as JR, was the first executive President of Sri Lanka, serving from 1978 till 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence...
was invited to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
by U.S.President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
When he left the diplomatic service he joined the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
in Washington D.C. and remains a Consultant.
See also
- Sri Lankan Non Career Diplomats
- James Alfred Ernest CoreaJames Alfred Ernest CoreaDr James Alfred Ernest Corea was a Sri Lankan public official. He was born in 1870. His father was Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea who was a Proctor of the Supreme Court. His mother was Henrietta Seneviratne. J.A.E Corea's father died in 1872 when his youngest son Victor was just one...
- Ivan Corea
- Vernon CoreaVernon CoreaVernon Corea was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation...
- List of political families in Sri Lanka
- ChilawChilawChilaw is a western seaboard town on the island of Sri Lanka.It is a bustling town with a famous fishmarket and beach...
- World BankWorld BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...