Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the world's first female prime minister when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She chaired the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1960 to 1994 and served three terms as prime minister, two times as the chief executive, from 1960 to 1965 and from 1970 to 1977, and once again in a presidential system from 1994 to 2000, governing under the presidency of her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia", was a Ceylonese statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of the Dominion of Ceylon, serving from 1956 until his assassination. The founder of the left-wing and Sinhalese nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party, his tenure saw the country's first left-wing reforms.
The Official Language Act , commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the exclusion of Tamil from the act.
Negombo is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, 38 km (24 mi) from Colombo via the Colombo–Katunayake Expressway and the nearest major city from the Bandaranaike International Airport.
The University of Peradeniya is a public university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University Grants Commission. It is the largest university in Sri Lanka, which was originally established as the University of Ceylon in 1942. The university was officially opened on 20 April 1954, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Sri Lankabhimanya Wannakuwattawaduge Don Albert Perera, better known by his adopted name Amaradeva, was a prominent Sri Lankan Sinhalese vocalist, violinist and composer. Primarily using traditional instruments like sitars, tablas and harmoniums, he incorporated Sinhala folk music with Indian ragas in his work. Many consider his contribution to the development of Sinhala music as unmatched; hence, he is occasionally cited as the "Maestro of Sri Lankan Music".
The 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom and riots in Ceylon, also known as the 58 riots, refer to the first island-wide ethnic riots and pogrom to target the minority Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon after it became an independent dominion from Britain in 1948. The riots lasted from 22 May until 29 May 1958 although sporadic disturbances happened even after the declaration of emergency on 27 May 1958. The estimates of the murders range, based on recovered bodies, from 158 to 1,500. Although most of the victims were Tamils, Sinhalese and their property were also affected by retaliatory attacks by Tamil mobs throughout the Batticaloa and Jaffna districts. As the first full-scale race riot in the country in over forty years, the events of 1958 shattered the trust the communities had in one another and led to further polarisation.
Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam was a Ceylonese lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was the founder and leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) and Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and a political leader of the Ceylon Tamil community for more than two decades. Chelvanayakam has been described as a father figure to Ceylon's Tamils, to whom he was known as "Thanthai Chelva".
Patrick de Silva Kularatne was a Sri Lankan educationist and politician. He was a Member of the State Council of Ceylon (1942-1947) and Member of Parliament (1960-1965). He served as Principal of Ananda College and Dharmaraja College and established Nalanda College Colombo, Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Moratuwa Vidyalaya and Dharmapala Vidyalaya. As a member of the executive committee on Education, he played an instrumental role in the realisation of free education from kindergarten to university.
Mapatunage James "M. J." Perera was a Sri Lankan civil servant with nine members in his family in Udumulla, Padukka. He created broadcasting history by being the first Ceylonese Director General of Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia, taking over the helm from John Lampson of the BBC.
Imiya Mudiyanselage Raphael Abhayawansa Iriyagolle was a Sri Lankan politician and Cabinet minister who served as Minister of Education between 1965 and 1970.
Prince of Wales' College is a selective-entry boys' school in Moratuwa, a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa, was founded and endowed in 1876 by Sir Charles Henry de Soysa, a famous 19th century Sri Lankan philanthropist and was named in honour of Prince Albert, Prince of Wales
The Church of Ceylon is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extraprovincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, James Chapman and until 1950 it consisted of a single diocese; in that year a second diocese was established at Kurunegala.
Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, OBE, JP, was a Sri Lankan academic, scholar and diplomat best known for his Malalasekara English-Sinhala Dictionary. He was Ceylon's first Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Ceylon's High Commissioner to Canada, the United Kingdom and Ceylon's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was the Professor Emeritus in Pali and Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies.
Wijayatunga Mudalige Harischandra Wijayatunga is a Sri Lankan author, translator, lexicographer, teacher, lawyer and politician. He held various offices in different institutions of the Government of Sri Lanka. At present he is the leader of Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Party. During the presidential elections of 1994 and 1999, he was the candidate of that party for this high office.
Subaiya Natesan was a Ceylonese politician, Member of State Council, Member of Parliament and senator.
The 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, also known as the Gal Oya riots, was the first organised pogrom against Sri Lankan Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon. It began with anti-Tamil rioting in Colombo, followed by anti-Sinhalese rioting in Batticaloa. The worst of the violence took place in the Gal Oya valley, where local majority Sinhalese colonists and employees of the Gal Oya Development Board commandeered government vehicles, dynamite and weapons and massacred minority Tamils. It is estimated that over 150 people, mostly Tamils, had died during the violence. The police and army were eventually able to bring the situation under control.
Diyogu Badathuruge Dhanapala (1905–1971) was a pioneering Sri Lankan journalist and writer.
Kalutara Koralalage Edward Winifred Brito Adikaram was an educationalist, writer, social activist and a philosopher in Sri Lanka. In 1931 he obtained an M.A degree from London School of Oriental Studies and in 1933 a PhD on the thesis "Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon". After returning to Sri Lanka he started to teach in Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte and in 1934, he became the principal of the school. He was a prominent non-violent activist in Sri Lanka.
Konara Mudiyanselage Podiappuhamy Rajaratne was a Ceylonese lawyer, politician and parliamentary secretary.
