Ponnambalam Kandiah was a Ceylon Tamil ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் கந்தையா; 1 July 1914 – September 1960) was a Ceylon Tamil academic, teacher, politician and Member of Parliament.

Early life and family

Kandiah was born on 1 July 1914. He was the son of Ponnambalam from

Puloly Puloly ( ta, புலோலி, translit=Pulōli) is a region in Jaffna Peninsula, Northern Sri Lanka. It is located approximately 30 km from City of Jaffna. Its north part is Point Pedro town. Some scholars suggest that region was named ...

in northern

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 ...

. He was educated at Jaffna Hindu College. He later joined the Ceylon University College, graduating in 1935 with a BA degree. He received a scholarship to study at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and after two years he graduated with a MA degree in economics and oriental languages. He then studied for a further two years at University of Oxford. Kandiah married Parameswari from

Nelliady Nelliady is a town in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. This is the one of the busiest towns in Jaffna district. After many coastal areas of Sri Lanka were devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami many people settled further inland, i ...

. They had a daughter – Radha.

Career

After returning to Ceylon he served as a lecturer at Ceylon University College. He was Deputy Librarian at University of Ceylon, Peradeniya for a period. He later taught at Manipay Hindu College. Whilst at Cambridge Kandiah met leftist students from Ceylon including Pieter Keuneman,

S. A. Wickramasinghe Dr. Sugiswara Abeywardena Wickramasinghe (13 April 1900 – 25 August 1981) was the founder of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka. He was the first Leftist to be elected to Ceylon State Council in 1931. He gave up all his wealth and comforts ...

and A. Vaidialingam. He came under the influence of communism and Marxism. Kandiah, Keuneman and Vaidialingam were members of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

. After returning to Ceylon Kandiah and the other young leftists founded the United Socialist Party in 1941 and its successor the Communist Party of Ceylon (CPC) in 1943. Kandiah was the CPC's candidate in Point Pedro at the

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

and

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

parliamentary elections but on each occasion was defeated by 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 ...

(ACTC) candidate T. Ramalingam. He however won the 1956 parliamentary election and entered Parliament. A delimitation commission in the late 1950s created a new electoral district for

Udupiddy Udupiddy is a small town in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic ...

from parts of Point Pedro. Kandiah stood as the CPC candidate in the new electoral district at the March 1960 parliamentary election but was defeated by the ACTC candidate

M. Sivasithamparam Murugesu Sivasithamparam (20 July 1923 – 5 June 2002) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker. Early life Sivasithamparam was born 20 July 1923 in Karaveddy in northern province of Ceylon. He w ...

. Kandiah died in September 1960 aged 46.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kandiah, P. 1914 births 1960 deaths Academic staff of the Ceylon University College Alumni of Jaffna Hindu College Alumni of the Ceylon University College Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford Communist Party of Great Britain members Communist Party of Sri Lanka politicians Faculty of Manipay Hindu College Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan Tamil academics Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil teachers