Meedeniye Rajakaruna Senanayaka Panditha Herath Wasala Kupuppu Mudiyanse Ralahamillage Punchi Banda John Henry Meedeniya (''known as J. H. Meedeniya Adigar '') (1867 - 1931) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

legislator and a

headmen The Headmen is a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The Headmen first appeared (as a team) in '' The Defenders'' #21 (March 1975) and were created by Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema, ...

. He was the

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 ...

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of repr ...

and elected member of the State Council of Ceylon for Ruanwelia. He was awarded the title of

Adigar The Mahâ Adigâr ( si, මහා අධිකාරම්) (also known as Adikārama, Adikār) was a Great Officer in the Amātya Mandalaya, or Sinhalese Council of State, in the Sinhalese Kingdoms of monarchical Sri Lanka. The office was sec ...

by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Government of Ceylon.

Early life and career

Meedeniya was born in 1867 in Marapona,

Kegalle District Kegalle is a district in Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary ( ...

, to Loku Banda Meedeniya, Deputy Coroner for

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

Ratnapura Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located o ...

and

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

and grandson of Humbadee Dissawa, who served under the last king of Kandy. Meedeniya was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mutwal. He entered public service as a

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

at the Colombo

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and a ...

in 1886. After serving in several posts including that of Deputy Coroner, he was appointed as a

Rate Mahatmaya Rate Mahatmaya was a traditional office and title from the Kandian Kingdom which became part of the British colonial administration within the Kandian and central region of Ceylon. History Persons were appointed to the title and office by the Ki ...

in 1897 and was awarded the honorary title of Dissawa and thereafter Adigar in 1920.

Family

He married Cornelia Magdeline Senanayake, daughter of Rev. Cornelius Senanayake, an Anglican priest and Corneliya Regina Obeysekere of Kataluwa Walawwa who was the sister of Lambertus Obeyesekere,

Maha Mudaliyar The Maha Mudaliyar ( ''Head Mudaliyar'' or මහ මුදලි) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Head Mudaliyar functioned as the head of the low country native headmen and native aide-de-camp to the Governor of Ceyl ...

. His eldest daughter was Alice Wijewardena who married

D. R. Wijewardena Don Richard Wijewardena ( Sinhala:දොන් රිච්ඩ් විජෙවර්ධන) (23 February 1886 – 13 June 1950) was a Sri Lankan press baron who was involved in the Sri Lankan independence movement. A successful entrepreneur ...

(the founder of Lake House newspaper group) and his younger daughter was Adeline Molamure, succeeded her father and was elected to his seat and became the first female member of State Council of Ceylon thereby the first elected female legislator in Sri Lanka. Adeline was married to Sir

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 first speaker State Council and Parliament. His son, Joseph Hercules Meedeniya who became the

, married Violet Ellawela. They had four children, which included

Iranganie Serasinghe Kala Keerthi Iranganie Roxanna Meedeniya, (born 9 June 1927"Irangani As Told to Kumar de Silva", Kumar de Silva, Samaranayake Publishers, 2013), popularly as Iranganie Serasinghe, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. Since ...

and Kamani Vitharana who married Professor

Tissa Vitharana Upali Tissa Vitharana (born 30 August 1934) is a Sri Lankan politician, former Member of Parliament and former cabinet minister. He is the current leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a member of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA ...

. J. H. Meedeniya's great-grandson

Ranil Wickremasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

would later become the President of Sri Lanka.

External links & References

The Meedeniya Ancestry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meedeniya Sinhalese politicians Sri Lankan Buddhists Adigar Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon

Early life and career

Family

See also

External links & References