His great-grandfather, Emans de Silva Gunasekera and his grandfather, S. D. S. Gunasekera bequeathed the properties to his father, A. E. de Silva, who later became the wealthiest businessman in Ceylon, and named his son A. E. de Silva Jr.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | Aníbal Cavaco Silva | Wanderlei Silva | Marina Silva | Thiago Silva | Marina Silva | Thiago Silva (footballer) | Sullivan Silva | Joke Silva | Giant Silva | Aravinda de Silva | Silva | Giovanni Silva de Oliveira | Eduardo Da Silva | Clarence Richard Silva | Assuerio Silva | António José da Silva | Washington Roberto Mariano da Silva | Walter de'Silva | Silva, Missouri | Silva Jardim | Silva compass | Shavendra Silva | Rogério Dutra da Silva | Nikki Silva | Miguel Otero Silva | Martin Silva | Luís da Silva Mouzinho de Albuquerque | José Asunción Silva | Henrique Andrade Silva |
His tasks included drafting the new republican constitution of Sri Lanka, which is seen by Kumari Jayawardena as the first constitutional enshrinement of Sinhala chauvanism which had previously been limited to statute law.
He is the son of Fredrick de Silva, MBE, formerly Ceylon's ambassador to France and Switzerland, and the grandson of The Honorable George E. de Silva.
He closely associated with veteran politicians like George E. de Silva and A. Ratnayaka.
It was during this period that he first met and began to work with the leaders of the future Left movement such as N. M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, Leslie Goonewardene, who were also studying in London and fellow-students of Marxism.