Sri Lanka: Minnette de Silva
Born in 1918 in Kandy, Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka), Minnette de Silva was the first professional woman architect in Sri Lanka, and the first Asian woman elected as an associate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA, 1948). She attended lectures at the Technical College in Colombo, Sri Lanka and interned at the Office of Public Works prior to relocating to Bombay (now Mumbai), India (c. 1938). De Silva was an apprentice at Mistri and Bhedwar, an architectural firm located in Bombay, India, and she continued her education at the School of Architecture at the Sir J.J. School of Art in Bombay (1941–1943). She was expelled from this school for unapologetically participating in the Quit India Movement, including strikes related to the arrest of Mahatma Ghandi. Following her expulsion, she worked approximately seven months for Otto Koenigsberger, a German architect and urban planner in Bangalore (1944). She then co-founded the Modern Architectural Research Group alongside her sister, art historian Anil de Silva, and writer Mulk Raj Anand (1946); de Silva was the architectural editor of the MARG arts magazine. De Silva then transferred to the Architectural Association in London, England (1945–1948). After her graduation she returned to Sri Lanka, and founded the Studio of Modern Architecture in Kandy (1948). Her autobiography, The Life and Works of an Asian Woman Architect, was published posthumously (1998). De Silva earned the Gold Medal issued by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (1996). She died in 1998 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
References
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