Galappatti Kankanange William Perera (19 October 1884 - July 1956) was a Ceylonese lawyer, educator, politician and diplomat.
Early life
Galappatti Kankanange William Perera was born on 19 October 1884 in
Galle, Ceylon, the son of Carolis Perera and Merennege née Ensohamy.
Perera received his education at
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 ...
. In 1904 he won the national University Scholarship, which allowed him to study at
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts and Law.
Career
At the
fourth Legislative Council election held on 27 September 1924 he contested the seat for
Southern Province (Eastern Division) against a local
Tangalle barrister,
V. S. de S. Wikramanayake
Vincent Stuart de Silva Wikramanayake CBE, JPUM, (1876-1953) was Ceylonese lawyer and politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Council (1924-1931) and State Council of Ceylon (1931-1935).
Vincent Stuart de Silva Wikramanayake, was b ...
. Whilst Perera won the initial vote he demanded a recount as he believed he had secured a greater majority of votes only to lose to Wikramanayake by 17 votes.
Perera served as the principal of
Nalanda College, Colombo between 1926 and 1927.
At the
first State Council election in 1931, Perera was elected as the representative for Hambantota.
In March 1932 Perera moved a motion in the State Council calling for the use of
Sinhalese and
Tamil in the judicial and civil administration. It failed however to get the necessary support. In 1934, he moved that Sinhala and Tamil be used in the administration and law courts, whilst the motion was passed very little was done to implement it. In December 1934, following the resignation of
Alexander Francis Molamure
Sir Alexander Francis Molamure, (7 February 1888 – 25 January 1951) (commonly known as Sir Francis Molamure or A. F. Molamure) was a Ceylonese politician. He became the first speaker of both the State Council of Ceylon and Parliament of Ceyl ...
, the
Speaker of the State Council,
Forester Augustus Obeysekera was elected to the position, defeating Perera by 28 votes to 27.
In 1938, Perera served as the first Trade Commissioner of Ceylon in England, which at the time was the highest appointment available to represent the country abroad.
In 1942 he contested the by-election for the seat of
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 ...
on the
2nd State Council of Ceylon
The 2nd State Council of Ceylon was a meeting of the State Council of Ceylon, with the membership determined by the results of the 1936 state council election held between 22 February and 7 March 1936. The parliament met for the first time on 1 ...
, following the resignation of the sitting member,
W. A. de Silva 250px, W. A. de Silva's home Sravasti Mandiraya which he presented to the state.
Wilmot Arthur de Silva (15 March 1869 - April 1942) was Ceylonese veterinary surgeon, politician and philanthropist. He was the Minister of Health (1936–1942) in ...
. He was unsuccessful, losing to
Thomas Amarasuriya.
At the
1st parliamentary election, held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947, he ran as an
Independent for the seat of
Hambantota. Perera received 1,301 votes (7.0% of the total vote) and was defeated by the
Communist Party of Ceylon candidate,
Lakshman Rajapaksa, who received 8,740 votes (47% of the total vote).
Personal life
He married Joslin Catherine née Fernando (1890-1962) and they had five children - Nina (Wijesuriya), Kenneth (died in Infancy), Elise (Fernando), Dr Celia (died soon after qualifying) and Cecil Marcel (C.M. - the first Director of Dept of Highways, Ceylon).
Perera died in Colombo in July 1956, at the age of 71.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, G. K. W.
1956 deaths
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
Sinhalese people
Sri Lankan lawyers
1884 births
Alumni of Ananda College
Members of Lincoln's Inn
Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon
Principals of Nalanda College, Colombo