Adeline, Lady Molamure,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

( Meedeniya; 1890 – 1977) was the first female member of State Council of Ceylon, and therefore, the first elected female legislator in Sri Lanka. She was the Deputy President of the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Coun ...

. Educated at Bishop's College, Colombo, she was the daughter of J.H. Meedeniya Adigar, member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of repr ...

. She was elected to the State Council by election in 1931 from her father's electoral seat after his death. She was later elected to the Senate in 1947 and was appointed as a Deputy President of the Senate in 1955. She was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the 1955 Birthday Honours. She was the daughter of J.H. Meedeniya Adigar, grandson of Humbadee Dissawa, who served under the last king of Kandy and Cornelia Magdeline Senanayake, the daughter of Rev. Cornelius Senanayake, an Anglican priest and Corneliya Regina Obeysekere of Kataluwa Walawwa who was the sister of Lambertus Obeyesekere,

Maha Mudaliyar The Maha Mudaliyar ( ''Head Mudaliyar'' or මහ මුදලි) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Head Mudaliyar functioned as the head of the low country native headmen and native aide-de-camp to the Governor of Ceyl ...

. Her sister was Alice Wijewardena who married

D. R. Wijewardena Don Richard Wijewardena ( Sinhala:දොන් රිච්ඩ් විජෙවර්ධන) (23 February 1886 – 13 June 1950) was a Sri Lankan press baron who was involved in the Sri Lankan independence movement. A successful entrepreneur ...

(the founder of Lake House newspaper group) and her brother was Joseph Hercules Meedeniya who became the

Rate Mahatmaya Rate Mahatmaya was a traditional office and title from the Kandian Kingdom which became part of the British colonial administration within the Kandian and central region of Ceylon. History Persons were appointed to the title and office by the Ki ...

Ratnapura Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located o ...

, married Violet Ellawela. They had four children, which included

Iranganie Serasinghe Kala Keerthi Iranganie Roxanna Meedeniya, (born 9 June 1927"Irangani As Told to Kumar de Silva", Kumar de Silva, Samaranayake Publishers, 2013), popularly as Iranganie Serasinghe, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. Since ...

and Kamani Vitharana who married Professor

Tissa Vitharana Upali Tissa Vitharana (born 30 August 1934) is a Sri Lankan politician, former Member of Parliament and former cabinet minister. He is the current leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a member of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA ...

. Her sister's grandson

Ranil Wickremasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

would later become Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. She was married to Sir Francis Molamure, the first

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the State Council and Parliament. Their only daughter Seetha Molamure was appointed a member of the

. She married to L. J. Seneviratne a civil servant who became the

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

.RAMBUKPOTHA SENEVIRAJA - Family #3117
Accessed 17 December 2022.

References

1890 births 1977 deaths Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo Ceylonese Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Senate of Ceylon Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon Sinhalese politicians Women legislators in Sri Lanka Wives of knights 20th-century Sri Lankan women politicians {{SriLanka-bio-stub

See also

References