M. S. Themis

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Manuel Savariyappa Themis (1932 – May 2016) was a Sri Lankan politician and trade unionist. Born in Thulhiriya to an electrician, he grew up in Colombo and attended Dedigamuwa Junior School and Gauthama Sastralaya, Wellampitiya. He started work as a telegram messenger with the Ceylon Postal Department and joined the trade union movement. In 1950, at age 18, he was elected Vice President of the All Ceylon Post and Telecommunications Union and in 1951 became its Secretary.

In the 1956 election he was elected as one of Colombo Central’s MPs. On 7 July 1959 he left the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and, with Philip Gunawardena, helped form the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front). In the March 1960 election the MEP won only ten seats, and Themis failed to retain his seat; he also lost the July 1960 election. In 1965 the MEP joined with the United National Party to form a government under Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake. Themis then left politics and turned to printing and publishing, founding Royal Mailhouse Pvt. Ltd., a stationery company.

In 1993 he returned his parliamentary pension in solidarity with peers who asked Parliament to grant gratuities to retiring MPs. Themis died in May 2016.