A former political advisor to Sir John Swan has died suddenly at the age of 57 in his home country of Sri Lanka.

K.C. Nadarajah Jr., known as Raj, suffered a massive heart attack while sitting at his desk on May 5 and a funeral was held on Sunday.

Mr. Nadarajah helped catapult Sir John to power in the early 1980s and became the United Bermuda Party Premier's public relations guru.

Sir John said yesterday: "I was very saddened to hear that he had died. Raj was an unusually talented young man who assisted me in some of my duties as Premier to Bermuda.

"He had an extraordinary interest in and commitment to the political process, which helped to mould Bermuda to where it is.

"When he left Bermuda, it was to my regret. He went to London and then back home to be with his mother, because his father had passed away, and then he stayed in Colombo, Sri Lanka."

The former Premier added: "He was a dear friend to the family. He had a big influence on my children and their development. We have lost a good friend. I have lost one who gave me some very good advice and one that helped Bermuda."

Mr. Nadarajah was born in Sri Lanka and educated in England and Canada. A graduate of Dalhousie University and George Washington University, he followed his parents to Bermuda in the 1970s.

His father, K. C. Nadarajah Sr., was the Island's first non-white magistrate and his sister, Priya Levers, was Bermuda's first female Crown counsel.

Mrs. Justice Levers, now a judge in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, told The Royal Gazette yesterday that her brother was "very, very fond of Bermuda".

"It's my intention to bring his ashes there one day and scatter them in the seas close to Bermuda," said the mother-of-three. "He told me he was happiest in Bermuda."

She said the death of her brother, who was not married and had no children, was totally unexpected.

Mr. Nadarajah was managing the family's estates in Sri Lanka and working with an investment bank at the time of his death, his sister said.

Friends on the Island included Doulat (Donny) and Janet Tolaram. Mrs. Tolaram said: "He was very dear to us. His entire family was very dear to us. We are very sad at his passing.

"They were very special friends of ours and we cared a great deal about them. He was getting ready to be with his sister, planning to come to the Cayman Islands. It's very, very sad. We were all so fond of Raj."