Murugesu Balasundaram ( ta, முருகேசு பாலசுந்தரம்; 7 April 1903 – 15 December 1965) 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 ...

lawyer, politician and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Early life and family

Balasundaram was born on 7 April 1903. He was the son of Reverend K. S. Murugesu, a Methodist clergyman. He was educated at Kilner College, Jaffna and

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

. After school Balasundaram joined the

Ceylon University College 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 ...

, graduating in 1923 with a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree. He received a scholarship to study at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

from where he graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. Balasundaram married Sinnammah, daughter of Sinnathamby. They had four sons (Gnanasanmugan, Yogasundaram, Balakrishnan and Sivanandasundaram) and two daughters (Somasundaravalli and Yogeswari).

Career

After returning to

Ceylon 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 ...

Balasundaram worked as journalist for a brief period before joining the legal profession as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

. Balasundaram was one of the founding members of the

Jaffna Youth Congress The Jaffna Youth Congress, was the first of Sri Lanka's Youth Leagues. It was influenced by the Indian Independence Movement, was secular and committed to Poorana Swaraj (Complete Self-Rule), national unity and the eradication of inequalities ...

in 1924. He stood as the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi's (Federal Party) candidate in

Kopay Kopay ( ta, கோப்பாய், translit=Kōppāy) is a town about 4 km from the city of Jaffna along Point Pedro road. An agricultural town consisting mainly of vegetable farms, paddy fields and coconut gardens. The suburb Kopay is ble ...

at the March 1960 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He was re-elected at the July 1960 parliamentary election. He stood as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate in Kopay at 1965 parliamentary election but was defeated by the ITAK candidate S. Kathiravelupillai. Balasundaram died on 15 December 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balasundaram, M. 1903 births 1965 deaths Alumni of the Ceylon University College Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Ceylonese advocates Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan Tamil journalists Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Sri Lankan Tamil politicians