Sylvia Fernando

Sylvia Fernando (1904–1983) was a Sri Lankan educator and family planning advocate. She co-founded the Family Planning Association of Ceylon in 1953.

Sylvia Fernando was born to an elite family in Colombo, Ceylon in 1904. Her mother was a social worker and her father was an obstetrician and gynaecologist.[1]

Fernando was a lead member of the All Ceylon Women's Conference.

Fernando met Swedish women's rights activist Elise Ottesen-Jensen in 1948. In 1954 they found an ally in Swedish ambassador Alva Myrdal and lobbied their governments to try a family planning project.[2] In May 1958, Sweden agreed to provide $80,000 to distribute contraceptives in two communities in Ceylon.[3]

References
  1. Haag, John (2002). "Fernando, Sylvia (1904–1983)". In Commire, Anne (ed.). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Waterford, Connecticut: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4074-3. Archived from the original on 2018-11-15.
  2. Linder, Doris H. (Summer 2001). "Equality For Women: The Contribution of Scandinavian Women at the United Nations, 1946–66". Scandinavian Studies. 73 (2): 202–203. JSTOR 40920299.
  3. Connelly, Matthew (2008). Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-674-02983-5. sylvia fernando.

Further reading
  • Huston, Perdita. "Sylvia Fernando (1904–1983)." Motherhood by Choice: Pioneers in Women's Health and Family Planning. NY: The Feminist Press, 1992. pp. 39–54
  • Linder, Doris H. Crusader for Sex Education: Elise Ottesen-Jensen (1886–1973) in Scandinavia and on the International Scene. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1996.
  • "Sylvia Fernando 1904–1983," in People [London]. Vol. 19, no. 1, 1992, p. 24.
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