By Chenuka Elwitigala

Manel Abeysekera was a trailblazing figure in Sri Lankan history, best known as the country’s first female career diplomat. In a field that was once the exclusive domain of men, she broke the glass ceiling in 1958 and went on to serve in some of the most sensitive and high-profile roles in the Foreign Service.

Early Life and Education

She was born Irangani Manel Kannangara on August 14, 1933, into a family shaped by public service. She was the eldest daughter of Senator E.W. Kannangara, a titan of the pre-independence administration, who served as the Clerk of the State Council and later as a Senator. She received her primary and secondary education at Methodist College, Colombo, one of the island’s premier girls’ schools. She was a brilliant student, securing 2nd place in the entire island at the Senior School Certificate (SSC) examination. She also studied for the London External Exam and got a first division in the Intermediate Arts Exam.

She originally gained admission to the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) to read History. Encouraged by her family, she applied to the prestigious Somerville College, University of Oxford. She read Modern History at Oxford, graduating in 1957. It was during this time that her difficult surname “Kannangara” led British students to nickname her “Miss Kangaroo,” a moniker that affectionately stuck with her in diplomatic circles.

After joining the service, the government sent her to New Hall (now Murray Edwards College), University of Cambridge, to study modern languages. She specialized in Italian, which led to her first posting in Rome. This unique educational path made her one of the few Sri Lankans to have attended both Oxford and Cambridge universities.

The Pioneer: First Woman

Career Diplomat

Manel Abeysekera’s entry into the Foreign Service was historic. Until the late 1950s, women were effectively debarred from the Ceylon Overseas Service. When Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike opened the service to women, Upon returning to Ceylon, Manel saw a government Gazette notification that changed history. The notice for the Ceylon Overseas Service (Diplomatic Service) invited applications. The government Gazette notification contained a stern warning: “Married women must obtain special permission from the Public Service Commission.” Manel, who was unmarried, spotted that the notice did not explicitly ban unmarried women. She applied on this technicality.

At the time, the Foreign Service was an exclusively male domain. When she showed up for the exam, she was the only woman among hundreds of male applicants. She applied and faced a formidable interview board of three Permanent Secretaries. When asked why a woman should be hired for such a tough job, she famously retorted that women have “more resilience and patience” which were qualities essential for diplomacy. She was the only woman selected in the 1958 batch of eight cadets, making history as the first female career diplomat in the country. Prior to overseas assignment, she rotated through Sri Lankan government departments such as Immigration and Emigration, Commerce, and Tourism to gain practical insight into national functions, supplemented by protocol training on etiquette and foreign affairs conduct

When she arrived in Bangkok in 1970 as the Chargé d’Affaires, the local staff had never seen a female boss. Her driver, confused by the protocol of addressing a woman in a position of male authority, famously greeted her as “Welcome, Madame-Sir.” She loved the title so much that she later used it as the name of her memoirs: “Madame-Sir.” as it perfectly encapsulated her career: she had to command the authority of a “Sir” while navigating the world as a “Madame.”

Key Diplomatic Postings

Her career spanned 35 years, during which she held several critical posts. Her inaugural posting was as Attaché at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Rome, where probationers were required to pass the First Efficiency Bar Examination and achieve proficiency in an assigned language within three years. Abeysekera completed these milestones two years ahead of schedule, securing promotion to Third Secretary, though embassy budget constraints prompted her recall to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo She was often the first Asian female diplomat many Italians had ever met. She used this to her advantage, noting that Italian men were “gallant” and eager to help her while enjoying the spicy food she served, which allowed her to build a vast network of contacts that her male colleagues struggled to access.

She then served as Second Secretary and later First Secretary in London. Having been educated at both Oxford and Cambridge, she navigated the British establishment with ease. It was here she solidified her reputation as a “writer,” drafting high-level speeches for visiting Sri Lankan dignitaries that were praised for their perfect Oxford English.

Thailand was the defining country of her career. She served there twice. Manel Abeysekera was appointed Sri Lanka’s first resident Ambassador to Thailand in 1980, serving until 1983 and establishing a permanent diplomatic presence in Bangkok during a period when such postings were typically non-resident. Her tenure there followed an earlier stint as Chargé d’Affaires in the same mission in 1970, where she effectively led operations as the youngest and first female to hold that role in Sri Lankan diplomacy. Her tenure here was legendary for one specific event: the Alitalia Hijacking. On June 29, 1982, a Sri Lankan named Sepala Ekanayake hijacked an Alitalia Boeing 747 with 340 passengers mid-air, demanding to see his Italian wife and son and asking for a ransom. The plane landed in Bangkok and for 38 hours, Manel Abeysekera acted as the primary negotiator. The hijacker refused to speak to the Italians or Thais, trusting only “the Sri Lankan lady.” Manel spent two sleepless nights in the Alitalia office at the airport, speaking to Ekanayake over the radio. She eventually persuaded him to release the hostages in exchange for safe passage to Colombo. She was criticized by some for guaranteeing a criminal’s safety, but she maintained that her priority was saving the 340 lives on board. Her swift handling of the crisis prevented a massacre.

When Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip came on an official visit, on seeing Manel lined up with all the other Heads of Mission, the Chief Photographer of the royal yacht “Britannia” thought she must be the wife of the Indian Ambassador next to whom she was standing, and checked on her with HM herself, since wives were not supposed to be in the photograph which was disregarded by the Queen. Later, when the Thai PM held a reception for the Queen and once again the Diplomatic Corps was presented to her, the Queen had told Manel that she understood she was the sole female Head of Mission in Bangkok and had inquired whether “the men were treating her well.”. Manel had replied that they were, in fact, spoiling her, to which the Queen had laughingly responded with, “Good! See that they keep it up”.

Her final major posting was as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (with accreditation to Austria and Switzerland). She was in Germany during the historic period when the Berlin Wall fell (1989) and Germany was reunified. Her diplomatic dispatches during this time provided the Sri Lankan government with a front-row analysis of the collapse of Communism in Europe. Recognizing that a unified Germany would be an economic powerhouse, she aggressively promoted Sri Lankan tea and tourism, laying the groundwork for Germany becoming one of Sri Lanka’s top export markets in the 1990s.

Chief of Protocol (The 1976

NAM Summit)

Her most grueling and significant role was serving as Sri Lanka’s Chief of Protocol from 1974 to 1980. She holds the record for the longest-serving officer in this high-pressure job. She had the good fortune to be picked by Mrs. Bandaranaike to accompany her to Geneva where Mrs. B. was to address the annual ILO Conference, and thence to Mexico where, as the world’s first female Head of Government, she had been invited to grace the UN 1st World Conference on Women.

She was responsible for the protocol arrangements of the 1976 Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Colombo. She had to personally manage the arrival, accommodation, and diplomatic sensitivities of 92 Heads of State (including Tito, Indira Gandhi, and Castro). During the summit arrivals, a Head of State landed at Katunayake airport every 7 minutes. Manel had to welcome each one, present them to the Prime Minister, and ensure the correct national anthem and flag were ready without a single error. She had later recalled living on “black coffee and sandwiches” for days, running up and down the gangplank in a saree without a break. When Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike worried that she might collapse from exhaustion, Manel famously quipped: “Madam, if I collapse on the tarmac, you will need a crane to remove me!”

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was the most difficult guest to handle, and Manel had to manage his unpredictable behavior personally. Gaddafi arrived late, missing the grand opening ceremony. The reception committee, led by Minister Badiudin Mahmud, was sweating on the tarmac waiting for him. Upon landing, Gaddafi refused to inspect the Guard of Honour, a major breach of protocol that could have insulted the Sri Lankan military. She realized that if Gaddafi got into the car too quickly, the Minister wouldn’t have time to officially welcome him. She shouted in Sinhala to the Sri Lankan driver of Gaddafi’s Rolls Royce: “Don’t open the door yet! Drive to the red carpet!”

To be Concluded