Rajasinghe Hewavitarne, (1 November 1898 – 1959) was a Ceylonese businessman and politician. Rajasinghe Hewavitarne was born on 1 November 1898 in

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 me ...

, the eldest son of Edmund Hewavitarne and Sujatha née Peiris, and the grandson of Don Carolis Hewavitharana. During the 1915 riots, when Hewavitarne was seventeen his father was arrested and court martialed for treason. His father died five months later in Jaffna prison. Hewavitarne was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, London and

Coventry Technical College City College Coventry was a further education college based in the city of Coventry, England. It was formed in 2002 through the merger of two previous colleges in the city, although through them it has roots going back to the 19th century. ...

, which included training at the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

motor vehicle plant in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

. He returned to Ceylon and took a position as a partner and engineer at the family company, H. Don Carolis and Sons. On 30 October 1931 he married Rajakurna, with whom he had two children. At the State Council elections in 1936 Hewavitarne contested the seat of Matara. On 27 February 1936 he was elected as a Member of the

2nd State Council of Ceylon The 2nd State Council of Ceylon was a meeting of the State Council of Ceylon, with the membership determined by the results of the 1936 state council election held between 22 February and 7 March 1936. The parliament met for the first time on 1 ...

, where he served on the Executive Committee for Labour, Industry and Commerce. His younger brother,

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

, was also elected to the State Council, representing

Udugama Udugama is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within Central Province. See also * List of towns in Central Province, Sri Lanka External links * Populated places in Central Province, Sri Lanka {{CentralLK-geo-stub ...

. In the

1949 New Year Honours The 1949 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the '' London ...

Hewavitarne was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

and in the 1952 Queens Birthday Honours was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division). In 1956 he was appointed as Ceylon's

Envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an automobile brand used to sell Bri ...

to Burma (

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

References

1898 births 1959 deaths People educated at Dulwich College Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon People from British Ceylon Sinhalese people Sri Lankan businesspeople Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Myanmar {{SriLanka-politician-stub