Caluadewage Cyril Mathew was a Sri Lankan politician, member of parliament, representing the Kelaniya electorate, and served as the Minister of Industry and Scientific Affairs in the Jayewardene cabinet.
11 Facts About Cyril Mathew
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Cyril Mathew was elected to the House of Representatives of Ceylon in the 1960 March general elections from Kolonna from the United National Party and was re-elected in the 1960 July general elections.
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Cyril Mathew contested the 1965 general elections from Bandarawela and was defeated by R M Appuhamy.
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Cyril Mathew was elected at the 8th parliamentary elections, held on 21 July 1977, representing the Kelaniya electorate for the United National Party.
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Cyril Mathew was known for his hard-line position against the Tamil's political aspirations.
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Cyril Mathew was appointed as the Minister of Industry and Scientific Affairs in July 1977.
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Cyril Mathew is widely regarded as one of the key ministers responsible for instigating the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983, where he was seen leading mobs to burn Tamil businesses.
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Cyril Mathew was expelled from the cabinet and the governing United National Party by President JR Jayewardene in 1984 after publicly criticising a conference called by Jayewardene to redress grievances of the Tamil minority.
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Cyril Mathew died of a heart attack on 17 October 1989.
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Cyril Mathew issued a pamphlet Who is the Tiger, a collection of his inflammatory speeches made in 1979.
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Cyril Mathew's son Nanda was a member of the parliament and later held several ministerial posts, including Minister of Sports and Youth affairs, under successive UNP governments.