Don Peter Atapattu (17 September 1899 – 14 December 1976), popularly known as D. P. Atapattu, was Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Minister of State and a Member of Parliament in

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 ...

. Born at Nakulugamuwa Walauwa,

Nakulugamuwa Nakulugamuwa ( si, නාකුලුගමුව) is a village in the Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka. It is located on the Tangalla Road (A2 Highway). Nakulugamuwa is a comparatively highly populated village in Tan ...

; he received his secondary education at

St Thomas' College St. Thomas' College (Autonomous), Thrissur is a government aided college located in Thrissur, Kerala, India. It is founded by Mar Adolph Medlycott in 1889. It is the oldest college in the Erstwhile Princely State of Cochin and present day Th ...

, Mt. Lavinia and

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

, Colombo. Thereafter he 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 ...

from the Ceylon Law College and began a legal practice in Tangalle. He represented the United National Party from the Beliatta electorate in Hambantota district at six general parliamentary elections held between 1947 and 1965. He won in March 1960 and 1965, while his long-standing rival,

D. A. Rajapaksa Don Alwin Rajapaksa ( si, දොන් ඇල්වින් රාජපක්ෂ; ta, டான் ஆல்வின் ராஜபக்ஷ; 5 November 1905 – 7 November 1967) was a Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament who rep ...

, won in 1947, 1952, 1956, and July 1960. In the 1965 Dudley Senanayake government, Atapattu was Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Minister of State, J. R. Jayewardene. He died at his home in Tangalle on 14 December 1976. His son, Ranjit Atapattu, was Minister of Health from 1977 until 1989, and his grandson, Druvindra Atapattu, contested the 2009 General Election.

References

Sunday Times
1899 births 1976 deaths Ceylonese proctors Alumni of Ananda College United National Party politicians Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon {{SouthernLK-politician-stub

See also

References