Senanayake Family
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Senanayake Family
The Senanayake family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in enterprise and politics. Along with many members who have been successful politician across generations, the family includes two Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka. History Don Spater from the village of Bothale became a successful mine owner. Making his fortune in graphite mining, he invested in plantations and in the arrack renting franchise. He assumed the name Senanayake and was awarded the title of Mudaliyar by the colonial government. His sons continued his business ventures, and was in the forefront of the temperance movement that transitioned into the modern independence movement led by his sons Fredrick Richard Senanayake and Don Stephen Senanayake following the brutal suppression of the 1915 riots by the British. Don Stephen Senanayake who lead the negotiations with the British Government, was elected the first Prime Minister of Ceylon in 1947, having won the first Parliamentary elections after forming the ...
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Don Stephen Senanayake
Don Stephen Senanayake ( si, දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක,; ta, டி. எஸ். சேனநாயக்கா; 21 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of Ceylon having emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment of self-rule in Ceylon. He is considered as the "Father of the Nation". Born to an entrepreneur from the village of Botale, Senanayake was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mutwal before briefly working as a clerk in the Surveyor General's Department. Joining the family business, he managed the family own estates and the Kahatagaha Graphite Mine. Long with his brothers, Senanayake became active in the temperance movement which grew into the independence movement following 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots, in which the Senanayake brothers were imprisoned without charges for 46 days. He was elected unopposed in 1924 to the Legislativ ...
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Temperance Movement In Sri Lanka
The Temperance movement in Sri Lanka was motivated by Buddhism and anti-colonialism. It was also a front line organisation in the National Independence Movement. Most of the early officers of the society were pioneers in gaining independence and "the Temperance Movement was identified as the foundation for the independence struggle and many were killed." The "Sura Virodhi Vyaparaya" against alcoholism launched by Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala in 1895, was seen by the British rulers as a direct attack on their regime which rented out taverns to get revenue for government coffers. At that time, there were 2,038 taverns. After the Temperance Movement agitation, there was a drastic drop to 190. References Temp Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanes ... Sri Lankan indepe ...
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Siripala Samarakkody
Siripala Samarakkody (1907 – 22 August 1944) was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician. Early life and education Samarakkody was born in 1907, the eldest of seven children to Charles Peter Augustus de Fonseka Tillekeratne Samarakkody and Anne Catharine née Tillekeratne, his brothers include Edmund (MP for Dehiowita 1952–1960, Bulathsinhala 1960-65) and Stephen (MP for Polgahawela 1960–1965). He received his early education at St. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, before travelling to England and studying law at London University. He was called to the bar from the Middle Temple. Upon his return to Ceylon he entered politics, successfully contested a seat on the Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia Urban Council. Political career In 1936 Samarakkody was elected a member of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon, for the seat of Narammala, defeating his nearest opponent by over 10,000 votes. He was one of the original members of Sinhala Maha Sabha before joining the Ceylon National Congress a few yea ...
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Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake
Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake (4 November 1911 – 22 December 1970; popularly known as R.G. Senanayake) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was Minister of Trade and Commerce during the period 1952-56 and 1956-60. He was elected a Member of Parliament from Dambadeniya in 1952 and in 1956 from Kelaniya, thus holding concurrent seats from two constituencies, while he retained his seat from Dambadeniya in 1960 and 1965. He was the eldest son of the freedom fighter Fredrick Richard Senanayake and was educated at the Royal College, Colombo and at Downing College, Cambridge and had become a barrister. Early life and education Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake, was born on 4 November 1911 to Fredrick Richard Senanayake, a barrister and Ellen Senanayake ''nee'' Attygalle, the youngest daughter of Mudaliyar Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle. He was the eldest son, amount eight siblings. A member of the Senanayake family, his cousins included future prime ministers Dudley Senanayake and Sir John Kotel ...
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Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle
Mudaliyar Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle (8 September 1836 - 12 December 1901) was a Ceylonese, an entrepreneur and mine owner. He was a successful graphite mine owner and was given the titular title of Mudaliyar for social service by the British Governor of Ceylon. Through the marriage of his daughters the Senanayake family and the Jayewardene family were connected and played a major part in the Sri Lankan independence movement and in the post independence politics, foundered in part by the wealth he had accumulated. Early life Born in the Salpita Korale, Attygalle went to work in the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens at the age of 12 years. After learning agriculture, six years later by 18 he was sent to the Hakgala Botanical Garden, in charge of the cinchona plantation there. Cinchona was used to make quinine to treat malaria. Business ventures After six years, he left to start his own plantation to supply plants to European planters and businessman. He then went into a partn ...
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Colombo Municipal Council
The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 municipal councilors. The council was formed in 1865, it first met in 1866 and derives most of its powers from ''Municipal Council Ordinance No. 29 of 1947''. It is the oldest and the largest local government authority in Sri Lanka which covers a resident population of over 600,000 (as of 2001). It is one of the largest employers in the country with over 12,000 employees. Council Colombo is a charter city, with a Mayor Council form of government. Colombo's mayor and the council members are elected through local government elections held once in four years. It has 16 standing committees on various subjects. Officers The Colombo Municipal Council under the ''Municipal Council Ordinance'' have several elected and appointed officers. These are ...
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John Kotelawala
General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala ( si, ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from 1953 to 1956. Born to a wealthy landholding and mining family, Kotelawala had a difficult childhood with the suicide of his father and financial difficulties that followed. He was educated at Royal College, Colombo and Christ's College, Cambridge before returning to become a planter and run the family estates and mines. Kotelawala joined the Ceylon Defense Force as an volunteer officer in 1922. Being from a politically active family, he entered mainstream politics in 1931 having been elected to the State Council of Ceylon. He went on to serve as Minister of Communications and Works in the Second Board of Ministers of Ceylon. Having served as the commanding officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry, he transferred to the reserve with the ...
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Tissa Wijeyeratne
Suratissa Diyasena Wijeyeratne (Sinhala language, Sinhala: සුරතිස්ස දියසේන විජයරත්න) (17 February 1923 – 11 July 2002) (known as ''Tissa Wijeyeratne'') was a Sri Lankan politician, diplomat, barrister and businessman. He was also Additional Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence, and Senior Advisor (Foreign Affairs) to the Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister. Early life Tissa Wijeyeratne was born 17 February 1923 to a leading family from Sabaragamuwa in Sri Lanka. He was the eldest son of Sir Edwin and Lady Leela Wijeyeratne, of Buddenipola Walauwa, Kegalle. Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne was a former Cabinet Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development. Tissa Wijeyeratne had two younger brothers, Nissanka and Cuda Wijeyeratne. Nissanka Wijeyeratne was a politician, civil servant, diplomat and Diyawadana Nilame. Dr. Cuda Wijeyeratne who is a psychiatrist, consultant psychiatrist. Education Wijeyeratne completed his pri ...
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Visakha Wijeyeratne
Visakha Wijeyeratne ( Sinhala: ''විශාකා විජයරත්න'', née Bulankulame) (17 March 1935 – 13 April 1999) was a Sri Lankan artist, painter, sculptor, writer and social worker. Her husband, Tissa Wijeyeratne, was a politician, diplomat, barrister and businessman. Early days Visakha Wijeyeratne was born at Sirimedura, Horton Place Colombo 7 to Dr Edmund Ashoka Bulankulame and Ivy Dunuwille Senenayake. Her father was one of the first Ceylonese medical doctors to pass out from the prestigious University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The Bulankulame family were custodians of the Atamasthana and Dr Bulankulame held the high post of Atamasthana Nilame (chief lay custodian of Atamasthana) for a short term on behalf of his brother. Her mother, Ivy Dunuwille Senanayake, was the eldest daughter of D S Senanayake’s older brother, D C (Don Charles) Senanayake. She was the fourth in a family of seven and spent her childhood in Anuradhapura. Education She schooled ...
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United National Party
The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), is a centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party, or as part of its governing coalition, for 38 of the country's 74 years of independence, including the periods 19471956, 19651970, 19771994, 20012004 and 20152019. The party also controlled the executive presidency from its formation in 1978 until 1994. The UNP has been led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe since 1994. As of September 2021, the UNP is a member of the International Democrat Union. History Formation (1946–1952) The UNP was founded by Don Stephen Senanayake in 1946 by amalgamating three right-leaning, pro-dominion parties from the majority Sinhalese community and minority Tamil and Muslim communities. Senanayake had earlier ...
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1947 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon between 23 August and 20 September 1947. They were the first elections overseen and administered by the newly formed Department of Parliamentary Elections. Background This is considered the first national election held in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon). Although it took place before independence was actually granted, it was the first election under the Soulbury Constitution. Some of the major figures who had led the independence struggle were found in the rightwing United National Party led by D.S. Senanayake. In opposition were the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party and Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, the Communist Party of Ceylon, the Ceylon Indian Congress and an array of independents. Results Senanayake's UNP fell short of a majority, but was able to form a government in coalition with the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, which had taken most of the seats in the Tamil regions. Sri Lanka obtained full independence as a dominion ...
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Prime Minister Of Ceylon
The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, who is the constitutional chief executive. The Cabinet is collectively held accountable to parliament for their policies and actions. Dinesh Gunawardena has been prime minister since 22 July, after Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the President. Appointment The president will appoint a member of parliament as prime minister, who in the president's opinion, "is most likely to command the confidence of Parliament". The prime minister holds office throughout the period during which the cabinet of ministers continues to function under the provisions of the constitution unless the prime minister resigns from the post or ceases to be a member of parliament. Powers and role Under the Soulbury Constitution the post of Prime Minister was create ...
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