Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake was a

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

ese, an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was a successful graphite mine owner and was given the titular title of

Mudaliyar Thuluva Vellalar, also known as Agamudi Mudaliar or Arcot Mudaliars, is a caste found in northern Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra Pradesh and southern Karnataka. They were an elite and dominant land-owning community. Etymology The earliest occu ...

for social service by the British colonial administration. He is the father of D. S. Senanayake, the

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka The prime minister of Sri Lanka, officially the prime minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's exec ...

. Born in the village of Botale in 1847 to Don Bartholomew, he had his schooling at St Thomas’ College, Matale. He went into business and gained success in graphite mining, owning several mines. He also owned several plantations and investments in the

arrack Arrack is a Distillation, distilled alcoholic drink typically produced in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, made from the Fermentation (food), fermented sap of coconut flowers or sugarcane, and also with grain (e.g. red rice) or fruit depending upon ...

renting franchise.Nobodies to Somebodies: The Rise of the Colonial Bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka
Kumari Jayawardena, pp. 192-3 & 267 (Zed) He married Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake, daughter of Baron Senanayake of Kehelella, Badalagama. They had three sons; Don Charles "D.C." Senanayake, Fredric Richard "F. R." Senanayake, Don Stephen "D.S." Senanayake and a daughter Maria Francess "Mary Jane" Senanayake.Senanayakes of Botale
/ref> He was awarded the title of

by Governor Sir Joseph West Ridgeway for being "a worthy citizen". He died on November 7, 1907. His politically active sons started a political lineage that extended several generations, lasting to this day. His son D. S. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Ceylon having led it to its independence, his grandson Dudley Shelton Senanayake succeeded his father as the second Prime Minister and held the post on three occasions. His eldest son Fredrick Richard Senanayake was elected to the Legislative Council and his son Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake went on to become a Cabinet minister. His descendants include Rukman Senanayake (great grandson), Vasantha Senanayake and

Ruwan Wijewardene Dinendra Ruwan Wijewardene ( Sinhala: දිනේන්ද්‍ර රුවන් විජෙවර්ධන) (born 4 August 1975) is a Sri Lankan politician and currently the Senior advisor to president Ranil Wickremesinghe on Climate chang ...

(great great grandsons) who are active in current Sri Lankan politics.

External links and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senanayake, Don Spater Mudaliyars of Ceylon Sri Lankan Buddhists Sinhalese people Sri Lankan businesspeople Don Spater Sri Lankan mining businesspeople

See also

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