Minnette de Silva (;; 1 February 1918 – 24 November 1998) was an internationally recognised architect, considered the pioneer of the modern architectural style in Sri Lanka. De Silva was a fellow of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. De Silva was the first Sri Lankan woman to be trained as an architect and the first Asian woman to be elected an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1948. de Silva was also the first Asian representative of CIAM in 1947 and was one of the founding members of the Architectural publication Marg. Later in her life, she was awarded the SLIA Gold Medal for her contribution to Architecture in particular her pioneering work developing a 'regional modernism for the tropics'. Early life (1918–1930) Minnette de Silva was born on 1 February 1918 in Kandy to a well-known mixed-race family. Her father was George E. de Silva, a prominent Kandyan politician with a legacy of nearly thirty years. He was a SinhaleseBuddhist and was President of the Ceylon National Congress, and also served as a Minister of Health. Her mother, Agnes de Silva (née Nell), was a Burgher Christian who actively campaigned for universal suffrage in Sri Lanka. de Silva also recounts that her mother’s involvement in the Arts and Crafts Movement gave her the exposure to various traditions that are reflected in her later work as an architect. She was the youngest of five children. Her sister Anil de Silva was an art critic and historian. Her brother Fredrick de Silva was a lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of Kandy and later a member of Parliament. Fredrick was also Sri Lanka's Ambassador to France. de Silva was first educated at the Kandy Convent at age 7 before being transferred to the Bishop’s College Boarding School in Colombo. In 1928, her family moved to England, where she schooled at St. Mary's, in Brighton, England. On her father’s request, she returned to Ceylon in the 1930s. de Silva did not complete her formal education, due to circumstances related to her father’s financial crisis and political life, and her mother’s ailing health. She was not able to train as an architect in Colombo, so she had to persuade her father and her maternal uncle Dr Andreas Nell (1864-1956) to allow her to travel to Bombay to train at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art. Education