John Gladstone Rajakulendran (20 September 1907 – 27 February 1950) was a

Ceylon Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

politician and teacher. John Gladstone Rajakulendran was born in

Manipay Manipay or Maanippaai ( ta, மானிப்பாய்) is an affluent town in the northern Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. The original name of Manipay is Periyapulam. It was a mission location when the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) came to S ...

, Ceylon, on 20 September 1907, the son of Dr. Vethanayagam R. John. His brother was T. G. Francis, owner of the horse ‘Cotton Hall’ and the President of the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

Colombo. Rajakulendran studied at the English Memorial School Manipay and

St. John's College, Jaffna '' , motto_translation = Light Shines in the Darkness , location = , streetaddress = Main Street, Chundikuli , region = , city = Jaffna, Jaffna District , state = , p ...

. Having qualified as a trained teacher in Colombo, he taught at Wesley College, Colombo. Rajakulendran moved to

Nawalapitiya Nawalapitiya ( si, නාවලපිටිය, ta, நாவலப்பிட்டி, translit=Nāvalappiṭṭi) is a town in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. It is governed by an Urban Council. It is away from Kandy and from Colombo, at a he ...

and three months later was elected a Member of the

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...

. In 1938 he was elected Chairman of the Urban Council, a role he retained until 1942. In 1940 he was appointed the principal of Kathireshan College, Nawalapitiya, serving in that position until his death in 1950. On 11 October 1943 he won the seat of

Bandarawela Bandarawela ( Sinhala : බණ්ඩාරවෙල, pronounced ; Tamil: பண்டாரவெல) is the second largest town in the Badulla District which is away from Badulla. Bandarawela is away from Colombo and about away from Kandy, ...

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 ...

at a by-election, representing for the Labour Party, where he served on the Executive Committee for Labour, Industry and Commerce. In 1945 he was appointed as acting Minister of Labour Industries and Commerce. In November 1945 he enrolled at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

to study law. In July 1946, along with

G. G. Ponnambalam Ganapathipillai Gangaser Ponnambalam ( ta, கணபதி காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம்; 8 November 1901 – 9 February 1977) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and cabinet minister. He was the founder and l ...

(Council member for

Point Pedro Point Pedro ( ta, பருத்தித்துறை, translit=Paruttittuṟai; si, පේදුරු තුඩුව, translit=Pēduru Tuḍuva) is a town, located in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka, at the northernmost point of the island. ...

), Rajakulendran visited England as delegates of the

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam ask ...

, where they participated in discussions with the Secretary of State and other Members of the State Council on Constitutional Reforms. In 1947

D. S. Senanayake Don Stephen Senanayake ( si, දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක,; ta, டி. எஸ். சேனநாயக்கா; 21 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Mi ...

recommended he run as 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), ...

candidate for Haputale at the 1st parliamentary election. Rajakulendram finished fifth in a field of five, only securing 327 votes. He was also the first President of The Ceylon Bankers’ Employees Union from 1945 to 1946. He died in London on 27 February 1950, whilst still studying for his law degree.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajakulendram, John Gladstone 1907 births 1950 deaths All Ceylon Tamil Congress politicians Alumni of St. John's College, Jaffna Faculty of Wesley College, Colombo Local authority councillors of Sri Lanka Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon People from Manipay People from British Ceylon Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan teachers United National Party politicians