Cissy Cooray, OBE (8 June 1889 – 6 November 1965) was a Ceylonese social worker and the first woman to be appointed to the Senate of Ceylon.

[5] In 1937, Cooray hosted Australian clubwoman Isobel Ritchie, on a visit to see the work of the Social Service League of Colombo.

[6] In 1941 she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for her work in social welfare services in Ceylon.

[1][9] While in the legislature, she worked for improvements in the food supply and in hospital care, including nurse education in rural areas.

[5] "Our island is rich, our people are gay and carefree, but we cannot progress until we wipe out illiteracy and ignorance and disease," she declared in 1951.