Uda Walawwe Bernard Herbert Aluwihare also known as Bernard Aluwihare (6 April 1902 - 22 January 1961) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n lawyer and politician who served in both the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It r ...

and

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

. He was a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament from

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, ta, மாத்தளை, translit=Māttaḷai) is the administrative capital city of the Matale District. It is the most urbanised and populated centre in the district. Matale is also the second largest muni ...

. He became the Minister for Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs in

Second Dudley Senanayake cabinet The Second Dudley Senanayake cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்ல� ...

in 1960.

Early life and education

Born to a

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

radala Radala refers to a small minority group in Sri Lanka in the former provinces of the Kingdom of Kandy, who are either descendants of chiefs and courtiers of the King of Kandy of Nayaks of Kandy or descendants of native headmen appointed by the ...

family, son of T. B. Aluwihare and Panebokke Tikiri Kumarihamy, daughter of Panabokke Dissawe. His mother died two days after his birth. His elder brothers were

Richard Aluwihare Sir Richard Aluwihare, (23 May 1895 – 22 December 1976) was a Sri Lankan civil servant. He was the first Ceylonese Inspector General of Police and Ceylon's High Commissioner to India. Early life and education Richard Aluwihare was born on ...

and William Aluwihare. Educated at

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

and

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

, he studied law at the

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and qualified as a

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

and there after went to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

for further studies in law. He established his legal practice in the unofficial bar of Kandy,

William Gopallawa William Gopallawa (, ; 17 September 1896 – 31 January 1981) was the last Governor-General of Ceylon from 1962 to 1972 and became the first and only non-executive and ceremonial President of Sri Lanka when Ceylon declared itself a republic i ...

was one of his juniors. He married Dr Florence Ram who he met in England, she was the daughter of Dr L. Ram from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The family had a close friendship with the

Nehru–Gandhi family The Nehru–Gandhi family is an Indian political family that has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India. The involvement of the family has traditionally revolved around the Indian National Congress, as various members have traditi ...

Political career

He was first elected

from Matale in 1936, he had been wounded in the head when he was shot at by a supporter of his opponent. He briefly served in the

war cabinet A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senior ...

. He contested the 1st parliamentary election in 1947 from the Matale electorate as an independent but lost to V. T. Nanayakkara. He joined S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in the formation of the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

, but left soon after its formation to contest 1952 general election as an indepandant and won defeating V. T. Nanayakkara who had contested from the

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), ...

. Joining the United National Party, contested the 1956 general election from Matale from the United National Party but was defeated by Nimal Karunatilake the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate. He won back his seat in the March 1960 general election and was appointed Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in the short lived government that fell three months later. Aluwihare retained his seat in the July 1960 general election while the Sri Lanka Freedom Party won the election and established a government. He was diagnosed with cancer soon after and died on 22 January 1961, while in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for medical treatment. His nephew Alick Aluwihare succeeded his seat in parliament.

References

External links

Aluvihare, Udawalawwe Bernard Herbert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aluwihare, Bernard Ceylonese proctors Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon 1902 births 1961 deaths Education ministers of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Alumni of Ceylon Law College Culture ministers of Sri Lanka

Early life and education

Political career

See also

References

External links