Appreciations
View(s):Guardian of Tamil memory
Suseelavathy (Susili) Wilson
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Suseelavathy (Susili) Wilson on October 8 in Toronto, surrounded by family. She was 97 years old.Born on June 2, 1928 in Thellipalai, Jaffna District, Sri Lanka, Susili lived a life shaped by study, quiet conviction and service. She completed a Degree in Economics and later qualified as a professional librarian in the United Kingdom. The habits she cultivated through those studies, inquiry joined with careful organization, guided her work and her public life.
As the eldest child of statesman S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, an acclaimed lawyer and the leader of the largest Tamil political party in Ceylon, who championed non-violent constitutional federalism and civil rights for decades, Susili assisted his political campaigns with her mother and learned his patient constitutionalism.
She believed that dignity is advanced through law, dialogue and disciplined non-violence in the years after independence. Her work formed part of a larger Tamil history that sought peaceful remedies through democratic persuasion.
At university, she met Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson, who became her husband and partner in scholarship. Dr. Wilson became a leading academic on Sri Lankan and Tamil politics. Susili was his first editor and most candid critic. She asked clarifying questions and helped shape arguments that continue to guide readers today.
She also contributed to the University of Toronto Scarborough Archives. The papers she collected, safeguarded and brought out of Sri Lanka during the Black July of 1983 formed the foundation of the S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and A.J. Wilson archival collections at the university, preserving a record that future generations can study and learn from.
Like many immigrants, Susili lived across two worlds, Sri Lanka and Canada. In Fredericton, New Brunswick, she built a fulfilling career as a librarian at the University of New Brunswick, worked on behalf of refugee women and raised three children with great love: Malliha (Helder), Maithili and Kumanan (Kim). She remained a steady presence for her brothers, relatives and extended family in seasons of both hardship and joy. Melanie and Matthew knew her as a gentle teacher and loving grandmother.
She was a guardian of Tamil memory so that grief could become purpose. She showed that scholarship can serve justice, that a household can be a school of civic virtue and that a community can move forward without bitterness. Her leadership was the kind that endures. It was made of patience, decency and the refusal to give up on lawful remedies when they are slow.
Though she is no longer with us, Susili’s spirit lives on in the minds she nurtured, the memory she preserved and the communities she helped hold together.
Malliha Wilson
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