Reginald Wilfred Tennekoon (31 December 1912) was a Ceylonese politician and businessman. Tennekoon was born on 31 December 1912 in the Central Province of

British Ceylon British Ceylon ( si, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ලංකාව, Britānya Laṃkāva; ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai) was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between ...

, the son of L. B. Tennekoon and Nandumanika Rambukwelle Tennakoon Kumarihamy of Walgama Walauwa,

Rambukkana Rambukkana, Pradeshiya Sabha, lies within the Kegalle district in Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. The Council was incorporated on 7 July 1991 as Rambukkana ward and a few small towns. The constituency today has an area of 128.8 square km, with a ...

. He had four brothers;

Victor Tennekoon Deshamanya Justice Victor Tennekoon QC (9 September 1914 – April 1990) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and jurist. He served as the 35th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, as well as the 33rd Attorney General and 23rd Solicitor General. From 1979 to 1984 ...

Chief Justice of Sri Lanka The Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the Chief Justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are t ...

(1974-1977);

Herbert Tennekoon Herbert Ernest Tennekoon, CCS (30 September 1911 - 22 January 1979) was a Sri Lankan civil servant. He was the Governor of the Central Bank of Ceylon. Born in the Central Province of British Ceylon, he had four brothers; Victor Tennekoon, forme ...

, the Governor of the

Central Bank of Ceylon The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, Sri Lanka Maha Bankuwa) is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA), it is a ...

(1971-1979); George Tennekoon, Professor of Pathology,

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya ( si, පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, பேராதனைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a Public research university, public university in Sri Lanka ...

and Kenneth Tennekoon, an engineer who emigrated to the UK in 1956 and one sister Dulcie Wijenaike. He was educated at

St. Anthony's College, Kandy St. Anthony's College, Kandy is a Catholic School, Roman Catholic School in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The college was established in 1854 by the Franciscan missionary, Felice Zoppi. The college is under the management of the Sylvestrines, Syl ...

, from where he attended

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 ...

in 1930, obtaining a BA ( Lon.) in 1933. He then attended the

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

, graduating as an Advocate. He practiced for a number of years in Kandy before joining the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the ...

with the Department of Lands. In 1943 he married Muriel Rambukpotha (1919-1978), the daughter of Albert Rambukpotha Rate Mahatmaya. They had one child, a daughter. In 1956, encouraged by his maternal uncle, Herath Banda Rambukwella, the sitting

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

for

Minipe Minipe is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within Central Province. See also *List of towns in Central Province, Sri Lanka Central Province is a province of Sri Lanka, containing the Kandy District, Matale District, and Nuwara Eliya Distr ...

, he resigned from his position as Assistant Settlement Officer and ran as 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), ...

candidate, at the 3rd parliamentary election, in the Minipe electorate. He was unsuccessful, losing by 4,648 votes to the

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� ...

candidate, M. B. W. Mediwake. Tennekoon ran again at the 4th parliamentary election, held on 19 March 1960, winning the seat narrowly by 438 votes. The election results however left neither of Ceylon's two major parties with a majority, with the result being the calling of another election. He was subsequently re-elected at the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960. Again it was a tight contest with Tennekoon receiving 4,833 votes (52.5% of the total vote) and 540 votes ahead of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate, H. M. Navaratne. He did not contest the next parliamentary election in 1965. Tennekoon went on to serve on a number of boards, including as the chairman of the Agricultural and Industrial Credit Corporation of Ceylon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennekoon, R. S. 1912 births Alumni of St. Anthony's College, Kandy Alumni of Sri Lanka Law College Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon United National Party politicians Date of death missing People from British Ceylon