Kesera Senanayake, JP, UM is a Sri Lankan diplomat, politician and the current Mayor of Kandy.
The younger son of Edward Lionel Senanayake, former Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament and Seetha Senanayake.
Senanayake was educated at Trinity College, Kandy before attending the University of London where he received his law degree and a master's degree in International Law. He also a master's degree in Human Rights from the University of Colombo. In 1985 he entered in the Sri Lanka Overseas Service and served as a career diplomat for ten years before entering politics. In 1993 was elected to the Central Provincial Council and was re-elected in 1999. Senanayake was first elected as Mayor of Kandy, a post previously held by his father (1950–54, 1956–60, 1964–1968), [1] in 2002, [2] serving until 2006. In 2018 he was re-elected as Mayor. [3]
The history of Sri Lanka is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions, comprising the areas of South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. The early human remains found on the island of Sri Lanka date to about 38,000 years ago.
Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa was the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 to 1 May 1993. Before that, he served as the prime minister in the government headed by J. R. Jayewardene from 6 February 1978 to 1 January 1989. He was awarded Sri Lanka's highest award to a civilian Sri Lankabhimanya in 1986 by President Junius Richard Jayewardene, the first to receive in Sri Lankan history.
Bernadine Rose Senanayake, JP, UM is a Sri Lankan politician, a former beauty queen and also an activist. She was the Mayor of Colombo from 2018 to 2023, and former Prime Minister's Spokesperson and the Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office for Ranil Wickramasinghe. She has been an activist on several issues and an active figure in the opposition gaining much limelight.
Deshamanya Nissanka Parakrama Wijeyeratne, known as Nissanka Wijeyeratne, was a Sri Lankan politician, civil servant, diplomat and English language poet. He was also the Diyawadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy from 1975 to 1985. At the time of death he was serving as the chairman of The Law and Society Trust in Sri Lanka.
Sir Edwin Aloysius Perera Wijeyeratne, known as Edwin Wijeyeratne, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician, diplomat, and one of the founding members of the Ceylon National Congress and the United National Party. He was a Senator and Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development in the cabinet of D. S. Senanayake. He thereafter he served as Ceylonese High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ceylonese High Commissioner to India
Major Edward "Eddie" Alexander Nugawela, ED was a Ceylonese lawyer, soldier and politician. He was the first Cabinet Minister of Education in independent Sri Lanka (1947–1954), later Cabinet Minister of Health (1954–1956), a Member of Parliament and State Council.
Suratissa Diyasena Wijeyeratne was a Sri Lankan politician, diplomat, barrister and businessman. He was also Additional Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence, and Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister.
Anuradha Neelendra Dullewe Wijeyeratne is a Sri Lankan politician and entrepreneur, He has served as the acting Diyawadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy on several occasions for three decades appointed by the Commissioner General of Buddhist Affairs with recommendation from Mahanayaka Theras of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters of Siam Nikaya. He was a Provincial Councillor of the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council too. In March 2020, he was invited by the United National Party to contest the Parliamentary General Election 2020 and was appointed as the chief organizer for the Mawanella electorate. In 2020 general elections, Wijeyeratne ran unsuccessfully for the Kegalle District seat in Parliament. He is ideologically positioned on the right wing of the United National Party.
Visakha Wijeyeratne was a Sri Lankan artist, painter, sculptor, writer and social worker. Her husband, Tissa Wijeyeratne, was a politician, diplomat, barrister and businessman.
Deshamanya Edwin Loku Bandara Hurulle was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Provincial Governor of the Central Province and North Central Province; Cabinet Minister of Communications in Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake's government; Cabinet Minister of Cultural Affairs under President J. R. Jayewardene's government and Member of Parliament.
Deshamanya Edward Lionel Senanayake was a Sri Lankan politician belonging to the United National Party. He was the 12th Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. Senanayake was the Governor of North Central Province and Central Province of Sri Lanka. He was elected to the Sri Lankan Parliament from Mahanuwara in Kandy.
The Kandy Clock Tower is located in the centre of Kandy on the intersections of Sri Dalada Veediya, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Mawatha and Hiragedara Mawatha. A landmark of the city, the clock tower was built near to the Ismail Building in 1950 by Haji Mohamed Ismail as a monument and in memory of his son Mohamed Zacky Ismail, who lost his life in an accident in Kadugannawa in August, 1947.
E. L. Senanayake Children's Park is an Urban Children's park in the city of Kandy, Central Province, Sri Lanka. Situated at the Ampitiya junction along the Kandy Lake Round Road, it the first children’s park, and one of the oldest parks in the city. The park is named in honour of E. L. Senanayake, former mayor of Kandy and prominent Sri Lankan politician.
George Edmund de Silva was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician. He was the first Cabinet Minister of Industries, Industrial Research and Fisheries in independent Sri Lanka (1947–1948), a Member of Parliament and State Council.
Edmund Fredrick Lorenz de Silva, was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician. He was the Mayor of Kandy, Member of Parliament and Sri Lanka's Ambassador to France.
Uda Walawwe Bernard Herbert Aluwihare also known as Bernard Aluwihare was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician who served in both the State Council of Ceylon and Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament from Matale. He became the Minister for Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs in Second Dudley Senanayake cabinet in 1960.
Deshamanya Noel Wimalasena was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and the first Governor of Sabaragamuwa.
Abeyratne Cudah Leonard Ratwatte, MBE was a Ceylonese politician. He was the Mayor of Kandy, Ceylon's High Commissioner in Ghana and Ceylon's High Commissioner to Malaysia.