Chandradasa Sarath Wijesinghe,

OBE 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 o ...

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 planter, businessman and politician. He was the

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

and a

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

. Born to

Muhandiram Muhandiram ( si, මුහන්දිරම්, ta, முகாந்திரம்) was a post in the native headmen system in the lower-country (coastal districts) of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during the colonial era. It was awarded as a title o ...

D. F. Wijesinghe and Mrs. S. L. Goonatillake Wijesinghe, who were wealthy plantation and graphite mine owners from

Kamburupitiya Kamburupitiya is a town in the Matara District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. It is located north of Matara at the intersection of the B356 (Kamburupitiya-Kirinda Road) and the B415 (Thihagoda-Kotapola Road). The town is situated in a wet, h ...

, Wijesinghe was educated at the

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 ...

and became a planter, managing his estate group of companies which included estates in many districts including the Andapana Estate in Kamburupitiya. He was Chairman of several companies including Ceylon Glass Company and Ceylon Chocolates Ltd. He built Andapana Hospital and later handed it over to the government. He was appointed an

Officer of 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 o ...

(OBE) in the

1953 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1953 for the United Kingdom were announced on 30 December 1952, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1953. This was the first New Year Honours since the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The ''Honours list'' ...

for his social services in the Southern Province. He unsuccessfully contested the Akuressa Electoral District in the 1952 general election from 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), ...

. In 1956, he was appointed to the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Counci ...

and served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance from April 1956 to September 1958 in the

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

government, then he was appointed

of Nationalized Services and Shipping from September 1958 to December 1959. From July 1960 to 1962 he served as Minister of Labour and Nationalised Services. From 1960 to 1965, he served as the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wijesinghe, Sarath Government ministers of Sri Lanka Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon Presidents of the Senate of Ceylon Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lankan planters Sinhalese politicians Sinhalese businesspeople Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Royal College, Colombo