Nevins Selvadurai

Nevins Selvadurai MSC MBE
நெவின்ஸ் செல்வதுரை
Member of the State Council of Ceylon for Kayts
In office 1934–1935
Succeeded by	Waithilingam Duraiswamy
Personal details
Born	(1863-10-15)15 October 1863
Died	28 April 1938(1938-04-28) (aged 74)
Alma mater	Jaffna Wesleyan Central School Presidency College
Profession	Teacher
Ethnicity	Ceylon Tamil

Nevins Selvadurai (Tamil: நெவின்ஸ் செல்வதுரை; 15 October 1863 – 28 April 1938) was a Ceylon Tamil teacher, principal of Jaffna Hindu College and a member of the State Council of Ceylon.

Selvadurai was born on 15 October 1863.^[1] He was the son of William Nevins Sithamaparapillai, headmaster of Jaffna Wesleyan Central School (present day Jaffna Central College).^[1] He was educated at Vaddukoddai Primary School and Jaffna Wesleyan Central School.^[1] Aged 15 he joined Presidency College in Madras, from where graduated in science with honours.^[1]

Selvadurai married Margaret Annie Papapammah, daughter of Muutusamy Watson, in 1889.^[1] They had several children.^[1]

After graduating Selvadurai became a teacher at Jaffna Wesleyan Central School.^[1] In 1892 he became principal of Jaffna Hindu College, a position he held until at 1926.^[1] He was also principal of Trinity College, Kandy for a brief period.^[1] In the 1923 Birthday Honours he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to education.^[2]

Selvadurai became a member of several organisations after retirement including the Board of Education and University College Council.^[1] He was president of the Jaffna Association chairman of the Rural Education Committee.^[1]

Selvadurai contested the 1934 State Council by-election as a candidate in Kayts and was elected to the State Council.^[1][3][4] He contested the 1936 election as a candidate in Jaffna but was defeated by incumbent Arunachalam Mahadeva.^[1]

Selvadurai died on 8 April 1938 after a heart attack.^[1]