Christophel Panini Illangakoon ( si, ක්‍රිස්ටෝෆෙල් පනිනි ඉල්ලන්ගකූන්) (10 November 1919 – 10 February 1989) was a

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 Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n politician. He was a

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 ...

from

Weligama Weligama ( si, වැලිගම, ta, வெலிகாமம்) is a town on the south coast of Sri Lanka, located in Matara District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. The name ''Weligama'', literally means "sandy v ...

in Matara and a first cousin of

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

, former

Prime Minister of Ceylon The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, wh ...

Early life and education

Ilangakoon was born on 26 November 1919 at Weligama to

Gate Mudaliyar Mudali (or Mudaliyar) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) which was part of the native headman system. The Portuguese colonials created the Mudaliyar class in the 17th century by enlisting natives of different castes from ...

Simon William Ilangakoon and Liliyan Augusta Obeysekera, daughter of Sir Solomon Christoffel Obeyesekere, a member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon, 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 f ...

. He received his primary and secondary education at

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

and completed his studies in agriculture in Bangalore and in the United Kingdom.

Political career

Ilangakoon entered politics in 1947 being elected member of the Weligama Urban Council. He became a member of the newly formed

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

in 1952 and contested the

seat unsuccessfully, losing to

Montague Jayawickrama Major Deshamanya Walter Geoffrey Montague "Monti" Jayawickrama (January 15, 1911 – November 16, 2001) was a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the Minister of Communications and Works (Ceylon), Minister of Transport and Public Works (1952- ...

. In 1956, he elected in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

defeating Jayawickrama. He was defeated by Jayawickrama in 1960, but was able to defeat Jayawickrama and was elected in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, to be defeated again in 1977 by Jayawickrama.

Family

Ilangakoon was married twice, firstly to Effie née Samarakkody with whom he had a son, Panini (Jr); then to Lilly née Goonasekere with whom he had Gamini. His first wife Effie remarried

Robert Edward Jayatilaka Robert Edward Jayatilaka (16 August 1911 - ??) was a Ceylonese politician. Education and teaching career Robert Edward, also known as "Eric", Jayatilaka, attended Richmond College, Galle and once qualified as a teacher, he taught for a number ...

and was later elected as the Chairman of the Nawalapitiya Urban Council. She was the first woman in the country to head an Urban Council Ilangakoon died on 10 February 1989, aged 69

References

External links

Illangakone Family

Commemorating Panini Illangakoon

Ilangakoon, Christoffel Panini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilangakoon, Panini 1919 births 1989 deaths Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Bandaranaike family Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon People from Southern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon Sinhalese politicians Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians

Early life and education

Political career

Family

See also

References

External links