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Don Stephen Senanayake | |
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දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක | |
![]() Senanayake in 1934 | |
1st Prime Minister of Ceylon | |
In office 24 September 1947[1] – 22 March 1952[1] | |
Monarchs | George VI Elizabeth II |
Governors General | Henry Monck-Mason Moore Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Dudley Senanayake |
Leader of the House | |
In office 2 December 1942 – 4 July 1947 | |
Preceded by | Don Baron Jayatilaka |
Succeeded by | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike |
Minister of Agriculture and Lands | |
In office 1931–1946 | |
Preceded by | Post created |
Succeeded by | Dudley Senanayake |
Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Mirigama | |
In office 14 October 1947 – 22 March 1952 | |
Preceded by | Constituency Created |
Succeeded by | John Amaratunga |
Personal details | |
Born | Botale, Mirigama, British Ceylon | 20 October 1884
Died | 22 March 1952 Colombo, Dominion of Ceylon | (aged 67)
Nationality | Ceylonese |
Political party | United National Party |
Spouse | Molly Dunuwila[2] |
Children | Dudley Senanayake Robert Senanayake |
Parents |
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Residence | Woodlands |
Education | S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia |
Occupation |
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Don Stephen Senanayake (Sinhala: දොන් ස්ටෙෆන් සේනානායක; Tamil: டி. எஸ். சேனநாயக்கா; 20 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) 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".[3]
Born to an entrepreneur from the village of Botale, Senanayake was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mutwal before briefly working as a clerk in the Surveyor General's Department. Joining the family business, he managed the family own estates and the Kahatagaha Graphite Mine. Long with his brothers, Senanayake became active in the temperance movement which grew into the independence movement following 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots, in which the Senanayake brothers were imprisoned without charges for 46 days. He was elected unopposed in 1924 to the Legislative Council of Ceylon from Negombo, becoming the Secretary of the unofficial members group of the Legislative Council. In 1931, he was elected to the State Council of Ceylon, where he served as Minister of Agriculture and Lands. He was elected to the first Parliament of Ceylon forming a government and serving as Ceylon's first Prime Minister from 1947 until his death in 1952.