This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(October 2019) |
The Senanayake family | |
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Current region | Colombo |
Place of origin | Bothale Ihalagama |
Members | Don Stephen Senanayake, Fredrick Richard Senanayake, Don Spater Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, Rukman Senanayake, Ruwan Wijewardene |
Connected families | Wijewardene family |
Traditions | Theravada Buddhism |
Estate(s) | Bothale Walawwa, Woodlands, Colombo, Grassmere, Colombo |
The Senanayake family [1] is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in enterprise and politics. Along with many members who have been successful politician across generations, the family includes two Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka.
Don Spater from the village of Bothale became a successful mine owner. Making his fortune in graphite mining, he invested in plantations and in the arrack renting franchise. He assumed the name Senanayake and was awarded the title of Mudaliyar by the colonial government. His sons continued his business ventures, and was in the forefront of the temperance movement that transitioned into the modern independence movement led by his sons Fredrick Richard Senanayake and Don Stephen Senanayake following the brutal suppression of the 1915 riots by the British. [2] Don Stephen Senanayake who lead the negotiations with the British Government, was elected the first Prime Minister of Ceylon in 1947, having won the first Parliamentary elections after forming the United National Party. On his sudden death, while in office, his son Dudley Senanayake succeeded him as Prime Minister and went on to server several terms.
Other distant members of the family include;
Don Stephen Senanayake was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of Ceylon having emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment of self-rule in Ceylon. He is considered as the "Father of the Nation".
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.
Dudley Shelton Senanayake, was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1952 to 1953, in 1960, and from 1965 to 1970 and Leader of the Opposition from 1960 to 1964. Senanayake's tenures as prime minister were associated with democratic policies focused on agricultural and educational reforms with a pro-western alignment.
General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1953 to 1956.
Fredrick Richard Senanayake was a Ceylonesen lawyer and independence activist. A leading member of the Sri Lankan independence movement, he was an elected member of the Colombo Municipal Council. F.R Senanayake, who would go on to lead Sri Lanka's independence movement, becoming a Barrister of independent Sri Lanka in 1947.
Sir Solomon Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilleke Senewiratna Rajakumaruna Kadukeralu Bandaranaike, was a Ceylonese colonial-era headmen. He was appointed as Head Mudaliyar and the aide-de-camp to the British Governor of Ceylon, therefore he was one of the most powerful personalities in British colonial Ceylon.
The 1962 Ceylonese coup d'état attempt was a failed military coup d'état planned in Ceylon. A group of Christian officers in the military and police planned to topple the government of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike during the night of 27 January 1962. Organised by Colonel F. C. de Saram, Colonel Maurice De Mel,, Rear Admiral Royce de Mel, C.C. Dissanayake, Sydney de Zoysa and Douglas Liyanage, it was to take place in the night of 27 January 1962, but was called off as the government gained information in the afternoon and initiated arrests of the suspected coup leaders before the coup was carried out.
Rukman Senanayake was a Sri Lankan politician. A Cabinet Minister of Environment and Natural Resources from 2002 to 2004 and Member of Parliament for Kegalle District, he was a Vice Leader of the United National Party.
Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake was a Sri Lankan politician. He was Minister of Trade and Commerce during the period 1952-56 and 1956-60. He was elected a Member of Parliament from Dambadeniya in 1952 and in 1956 from Kelaniya, thus holding concurrent seats from two constituencies, while he retained his seat from Dambadeniya in 1960 and 1965. He was the eldest son of the freedom fighter Fredrick Richard Senanayake and was educated at the Royal College, Colombo and at Downing College, Cambridge and had become a barrister.
Mohottalage Dingiri Banda was a former Divisional Revenue Officer (DRO) and subsequently a Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament in Ceylon.
Justin Kotelawala, CBE, JP was a Sri Lankan businessman and Senator. He was the former Chairman of the Ceylinco Group.
Colonel Theodore Godfrey Wijesinghe Jayewardene, VD, JP, CLI was a Ceylonese engineer, politician and military officer. A member of the State Council of Ceylon, he was the first Ceylonese commanding officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry.
Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake was a Ceylonese, an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was a successful graphite mine owner and was given the titular title of Mudaliyar for social service by the British colonial administration. He is the father of D. S. Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
The Bandaranaike family is a Sinhalese family prominent in Sri Lankan politics. The family includes three prime ministers and one President of Sri Lanka.
Cyril Esmond Lucien Wickremesinghe was a Ceylonese press baron, lawyer, and a successful entrepreneur. He also played key role in defeating Sirimavo Bandaranaike that brought United National Party's Dudley Senanayake to power in 1965's Parliamentary Election. He was also father of President of Sri Lanka and Leader of the UNP Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Bothale Walauwa is a large bungalow in Bothale Ihalagama, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
The Wijewardene family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in enterprise and politics. Along with many members who have been successful politician across generations, the family includes two Chief Justices, two Prime Ministers and two Presidents of Sri Lanka.
Mudaliyar Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle was a Ceylonese entrepreneur and mine owner. He was a successful graphite mine owner and was given the titular title of Mudaliyar for social service by the British Governor of Ceylon. Through the marriage of his daughters, the Senanayake family and the Jayewardene family were connected and played a major part in the Sri Lankan independence movement and in post-independence politics, due in part to the wealth he had accumulated.
The Jayewardene family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in law and politics. Along with many members who have been successful politician across generations, the family includes Presidents and Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka.