George Rajapaksa (25 December 1926 – 18 June 1976) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the former Cabinet Minister of Health, Fisheries and a Member of Parliament. George Rajapaksa was born 25 December 1926, the second son of Don Mathew Rajapaksa, who was a member of State Council of Ceylon and 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 Coun ...

, and Emalin (Emalyn) née Weeratunga. He was the nephew of

Don Alwin Rajapaksa Don Alwin Rajapaksa ( si, දොන් ඇල්වින් රාජපක්ෂ; ta, டான் ஆல்வின் ராஜபக்ஷ; 5 November 1905 – 7 November 1967) was a Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament who rep ...

, founder member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and cousin of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Rajapaska attended Richomd College, Galle and then Royal College, Colombo. Following the death of his father in May 1945 he entered the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Unive ...

and in 1946 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 ...

. He qualified as an Advocate and built up a criminal law practice in the

Hambantota District Hambantota District ( si, හම්බන්තොට දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''hambantoṭa distrikkaya''; ta, அம்பாந்தோட்டை மாவட்டம் ''Ampāntōṭṭai māvaṭṭam'') is a district i ...

. During this time he also served as the chairman of the Mulkirigala Village Committee. Rajapaksa entered politics at the age of 34 when he contested the Mulkirigala electorate, representing the People's United Front, at the March 1960 parliamentary elections. He was successful securing over 50% of the vote. In the subsequent July 1960 General Elections he retained the seat, however this time representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, increasing his margin to 68% of the vote. He was then appointed as the Deputy

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet, a position he retained until June 1962, resigning in protest at the government's withdrawal of the subsidy on rice. He ran again at the

parliamentary 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 ( ...

s in 1965 holding on to the seat with a reduced margin of 54% of the vote, and again at the 1970 parliamentary elections retaining the seat with 57% of the vote. Rajapaska was then appointed as the Minister for Fisheries in the

second Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet The Second Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike between 1970 and 1977. It was formed in May 1970 after the parliamentary election and it ended in July 1977 after the opposi ...

. Following which he was also appointed as

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

. Following his death in 1976, his older brother

Lakshman Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...

, selected as the SLFP candidate, was successful in securing the Mulkirigala seat at the subsequent by-election. Lalitha Rajapakse

His daughter Nirupama is a currently a Member of Parliament for

Hambantota Hambantota ( si, හම්බන්තොට, ta, அம்பாந்தோட்டை) is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri LankaThe prominent Malays (මැලේ) most part of the population is to be partly de ...

and the former Deputy Minister of Tourism and his son Shyamlal (1966-2009) was a former Provincial Councilor and prosecutor for the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...

References & External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajapaksa, George Fisheries ministers of Sri Lanka Sinhalese lawyers Ceylonese advocates Alumni of Royal College, Colombo

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon 1976 deaths 1926 births

See also

References & External links