Cortege will leave residence No 42/2, Second Lane, Koswatta Road, Nawala, Rajagiriya at 4.30 p.m.De Silva was at the helm of the Daily News on three separate occasions - 2001, 2003 and 2009. He also functioned as the Chief Editor of the Sunday Observer for a few years.

He was also prolific author and translator of books based mainly on socialism, his most recent work being the three-volume translation of Karl Marx Das Kapital. He was proficient in both Sinhala and English and wrote books and newspaper articles in both languages. After his formal retirement from journalism, he continued to write political columns to ANCL as well as other newspapers.

Born in Ambalangoda in 1938, De Silva was a graduate of the Colombo University. His first profession was teaching and he later became the Principal of Deniyaya Central College. He left teaching to pursue a full time career in politics from the Sri Lanka Communist Party and was an active party member for a few decades. He visited many countries in the course of political and journalistic work.