Sir Lalitha Abhaya Rajapaksa, QC (born Louis Alexander Rajapakse; 3 May 1900 – 25 May 1976) was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician. He was the first

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

of Ceylon and a member of the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Coun ...

Early life and education

Born Louis Alexander Rajapakse at Herambe Walauwwa in the southern coastal town of

Balapitiya Balapitiya is a coastal town, in south west Sri Lanka. It is located in the Southern Province in Sri Lanka. Situated south of Colombo, about a two-hour drive from the capital. It is the nearest town to the Maduganga River. Populated pla ...

, Rajapakse received his primary and secondary education in Ananda College, and

Saint Joseph's College, Colombo , motto_translation = In Knowledge and Virtue , location = T. B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , caption = School Facade , pushpin_m ...

. He joined the first batch of students to enter the

University College, Colombo Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

, where he was the first cricket captain and won the Obeysekara gold medal in athletics in 1922. He graduated in 1922 with a BA degree from the

University of London External Programme The University of London Worldwide (previously called the University of London International Academy) is the central academic body that manages external study programmes within the federal University of London. All courses are branded as simply ...

and proceed to London where he attended

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He obtained a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

in 1924, became a barrister having called to the bar in 1924 from the Lincoln's Inn. In 1925, he achieve the feat of youngest person at the time to receive

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

(LLD) in the world.

Legal career

On his return to Ceylon 1925, Rajapakse began his legal practice as an advocate in the Unofficial Bar, mainly in civil law in apex courts. He served as a lecturer and examiner at the Ceylon Law College and was a member of the Council of Legal Education. In 1944, he took silk as a King's Counsel and was appointed Commissioner of Assize in 1946, an appointment he relinquished quickly and returned to his lucrative legal practice.

Politician and Diplomat

Rajapakse was a founding member of 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), ...

in 1947 and was appointed to the

and became the leader of the house. He was soon after appointed by Prime Minister

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 ...

as the first

. In 1948 he was appointed to the seven member flag committee that consisted

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

J. R. Jayawardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

, John Kotelawala, T. B. Jayah, G. G. Ponnambalam and S. Nadesan. He was knighted in the

1952 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1952 were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire and Commonwealth. They were announced on 1 January 1952 for the British Empire, Austra ...

. He resigned as Minister of Justice in 1953, after Prime Minister

Sir John Kotelawala General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala ( si, ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) fro ...

requested his resignation from the cabinet and returned to his legal practice. In 1965, he actively campaigned for the United National Party, specking of authoritarian actions of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, following its attempts to nationalize

Lake House Lake House is an Elizabethan architecture, Elizabethan English country house, country house dating from 1578, in Wilsford cum Lake in Wiltshire, England, about seven miles north of Salisbury. It is a Grade I listed building. The gardens are Gra ...

. Following the United National Party victory in the 1965 general elections, he was appointed Ceylon's Ambassador to France in 1965. In February 1967 he was appointed the Ceylon's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom which he held until October 1969. Rajapakse died on 25 May 1976, at the age of 76.

Family

Rajapakse married Chrisoble Mendis Gunasekara, her sister Ruby Mendis Gunasekara became the first lady Proctor in Ceylon. Their son Bimal, became a barrister from Lincoln's Inn and they had two daughters, Ramani became a proctor and headed the All Ceylon Women's Buddhist Congress and Vineetha who married Jayantha Gunasekera who is a

President's Counsel President's Counsel (postnominal PC) is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka to be one of the "President's Counsel learned in the law". The term is also recognized as an honorific which replaced the practice of appoi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajapakse, Lalitha Justice ministers of Sri Lanka Members of the Senate of Ceylon Ceylonese Knights Bachelor Ceylonese advocates Sri Lankan barristers Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Saint Joseph's College, Colombo Alumni of the Ceylon University College Alumni of the University of London Academics of Sri Lanka Law College Members of Lincoln's Inn Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to France Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Switzerland High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom 1900 births 1976 deaths

Early life and education

Legal career

Politician and Diplomat

Family

See also

References