Daisy Maria Florence Senanayake (née Mendis) (19 June 1903 - 3 December 1988) was the first female 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 ...

(formerly Ceylon). Daisy Maria Florence Mendis was born on 19 June 1903 into a family of eight children in Rawatawatta,

Moratuwa Moratuwa ( si, මොරටුව, ta, மொறட்டுவை) is a large suburb of Colombo, on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, near Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. It is situated on the Galle–Colombo (Galle road) main highway, south o ...

. Her father, K. E. Mendis, was a planter. She was educated at the

Princess of Wales' College Princess of Wales' College is a girls' school in Sri Lanka, situated in Moratuwa, a suburb of Colombo. Princess of Wales' College was founded in 1876 by Sir Charles Henry de Soysa who was a famous 19th century Sri Lankan philanthropist and was ...

, Colombo. In 1925 she married Reginald S. Vincent Senanayke (1898-1946), a planter and founding member of the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா� ...

and its treasurer between 1935 and 1939. Senanayake was elected in 1947 at the 1st Ceylonese parliamentary elections, as the member for Kiriella, representing the

. She polled 5,535 votes (35.5% of the total vote) winning against a field of five other male candidates, with her nearest opponent, T. K. W. Chandrasekera, receiving 3,294 votes (21.1% of the total vote). Senanayake failed to retain the seat at the 2nd parliamentary elections in 1952, where she received 3,192 votes (15% of the total votes), with the successful candidate, A. E. B. Kiriella, polling 9,978 votes (48% of the total vote). She and her husband had six children, including the

Laki Senanayake Laki Senanayake (18 December 1937 - 30 May 2021) was a Sri Lankan sculptor and painter. Personal life Born in 1937, the son of Reginald S. Vincent and Florence Senanayake, he was the fifth of six children. His father, a planter by profession, ...

who became an artist.

References

1903 births Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Women legislators in Sri Lanka 1988 deaths {{SriLanka-bio-stub