The Ceylon National Congress ( Sinhala: ලංකා ජාතික කොන්ග්‍රසය ''Lanka Jathika Kongrasaya'') (CNC) was a Nationalist political party which was formed in

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 ...

on 11 December 1919. It was founded after nationalism grew quite intensely in the early 20th century during the British Colonial rule in Ceylon. It was formed by members of the Ceylon National Association (founded in 1888) and the Ceylon Reform League (founded in 1917).Working towards reform

The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) ''The Sunday Times'' is a weekly 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 Demo ...

Retrieved 23 April 2015 The Ceylon National Congress played an instrumental role in the attainment of Sri Lanka's independence later in 1948. Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam was the founding president of the party. In October 1920, Sir James Peiris was elected president, staunchly supported by

F.R. Senanayake Fredrick Richard Senanayake (known to as F. R. Senanayake) (October 20, 1882 – January 1, 1926) was a Ceylonesen lawyer and independence activist. A leading member of the Sri Lankan independence movement, he was an elected member of the Colo ...

and D.S. Senanayake. Other former presidents include D. B. Jayatilaka, E. W. Perera, C. W. W. Kannangara,

Patrick de Silva Kularatne Patrick de Silva Kularatne (31 March 1893 – 16 November 1976) (known as ''P de S Kularatne'') was a Sri Lankan (Sinhala Buddhist) educationist and politician. He was a State Council of Ceylon, Member of the State Council of Ceylon (1942-1 ...

, H. W. Amarasuriya, W. A. de Silva, George E. de Silva and

Edwin Wijeyeratne Sir Edwin Aloysius Perera Wijeyeratne ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රිමත් එඩ්වින් ඇලෝසියස් පෙරේරා විජයරත්න) (8 January 1889 – 19 October 1968), known as ''Edwin Wijeyeratne'', was a Sr ...

. The Ceylon National Congress later paved the way for the formation of 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 1943, D.S. Senanayake resigned from the Congress because he disagreed with its revised aim of achieving full freedom from the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

, preferring

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

status.SRI LANKA: THE UNTOLD STORY, Chapter 10: Lord Soulbury and his soulless report
By K T Rajasingham, Retrieved 11-06-2015

References

{{Authority control 1919 establishments in Ceylon Defunct political parties in Sri Lanka Political movements in Sri Lanka Political parties established in 1919 Political parties in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan independence movement

See also

References