Papers of Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson
alfred-jeyaratnam-wilson-fonds.pdf
Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
Note
Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson was born on October 4, 1928 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Kanagasabay
Rajaratnam Wilson and Elizabeth Ariammah Dutton. Wilson completed a B.A. in Economics and
Political Science from the University of Ceylon in 1950, a Ph.D from the London School of Economics,
University of London in 1956, and a DSc. (Econ.) from the University of London in 1977. In 1953, he
and Suseelavathy Chelvanayakam (daughter of Samuel James Velupillai Chelvanayakam) were married
in Colombo. Wilson taught political science at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka from 1956 to
1972. After completing several fellowships in the UK, Canada, and the US, in 1972 he became professor
of Political Science and Chairman of the Department of Political Science at the University of New
Brunswick. He remained at UNB until 1994, after which he was appointed Professor Emeritus. From 1978
to 1984 Wilson also acted as an advisor to the Sri Lankan government. He and his family later moved to
Toronto, where he passed away on 31 May 2000.
Wilson wrote and edited nine books on Sri Lankan politics as well as numerous essays and reviews
published in academic journals. His books include: “An Introduction to Civics and Government” (1954);
“Politics in Sri Lanka, 1947–1973” (1974); “Electoral Politics in an Emergent State: the Ceylon General
Election of May 1970” (1975); “The Gaullist System in Asia” (1980); “The States of South Asia:
Problems of National Integration: Essays in honour of W.H. Morris-Jones” (1982, editor, with Dennis
Dalton); “The Break-up of Sri Lanka: The Sinhalese-Tamil Conflict” (1988); “S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947–1977: A Political Biography” (1994); “Sri Lankan
Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the 19th and 20th Centuries” (2000); and “The Post
Colonial States of South Asia: Democracy, Development and Identity” (2001, editor, with Amita Shastri).
Scope and content
The fonds documents A. J. Wilson’s activities as an academic, historian, and political consultant and also
sheds light on historical events in Sri Lanka from the period of the 1970s to the 1980s. As an avid critic
and writer, the fonds covers Wilson’s academic life and political writings from his professorships at the
University of Peradeniya and later as Chairman of the Department of Political Science at the University
of New Brunswick up until 1986. From 1978-1984, Wilson acted as vice-chairman of the Presidential
Commission on Development Councils for the Sri Lankan government. The fonds also documents his
involvements as an advisor to the Sri Lankan government in this role.
The fonds also contains personal and historical material on the Wilson family, including that of Wilson’s
father-in-law, S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, a prominent Tamil lawyer and politician. Wilson’s wife,
Suseelavathy (Susili) Wilson, was very much involved in his work and was a librarian at the University of
New Brunswick. The fonds also includes her correspondence and professional documents
Immediate source of acquisition
The Wilson family moved from Sri Lanka to New Brunswick in 1972 and then to Toronto in 1995.
After A. J. Wilson’s passing, the records were preserved by Susili Wilson in their home. The records
were then transferred to UTSC in 2018.