Abeyratne Cudah Leonard Ratwatte, MBE (29 January 1909 – 11 July 1971) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka ** Demographics of Sri Lanka * Sri Lankan people, or of Sri Lankan descent; this includes: ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan T ...

politician. He was the

Mayor of Kandy The mayor of Kandy is the mayor and head of the Kandy Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Kandy Municipal Council established by the ''Municipalities Ordinance of 1865''. The offices of the mayor are at the Kandy Town Hall. ...

, Ceylon's High Commissioner in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and Ceylon's High Commissioner to Malaysia. Abeyratne Cudah Leonard Ratwatte was born on 29 January 1909 the son of Sir Cudah Ratwatte and Chitravo Katugaha née Kumarihamy. He was the eldest in a family of six boys and four girls, including

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

and Jayampathy Charitha. He was a cousin of

Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (; ; ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), 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 (th ...

. Educated at

Trinity College, Kandy Trinity College, Kandy is a private Anglican boys' school located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It offers both day and boarding facilities. It was founded in 1872 by British Anglican missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, modelled on Britis ...

where he won colours for rugby, he joined the Mercantile Bank of Kandy and served as Deputy Shroff, when his father was the Shroff of the bank. He later succeeded his father as Shroff of the Mercantile Bank of Kandy and served as a Director of the Insurance Corporation. Entering local politics, Ratwatte was elected to the

Kandy Municipal Council The Kandy Municipal Council is the local council for Kandy, the second largest city of Sri Lanka. The council was formed under the Municipalities Ordinance of 1865 and first met in 1866. The municipal council is the second oldest and largest lo ...

and went on to serve as the Deputy Mayor on three occasions. In the municipal elections of 1947, he was elected

. He had been a municipal councillor for 27 years. He contested the by-election for Kandy electorate in 1949 and was defeated by Tamara Kumari Illangaratne. He was a senior member of the

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

served in its Working Committee and was the President of the UNP's Youth League in Kandy. He was appointed first citizen to aid

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

during his time in Kandy and was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

1951 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1951 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those count ...

. In 1965, Prime Minister

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan wikt:statesman, statesman who thrice served as Prime Minister of C ...

appointed him as Ceylon's High Commissioner in Ghana and thereafter Ceylon's High Commissioner to Malaysia. He was the President of the Kandy District Cricket Association and the President of the Kandy District Football Association. He was married to Chandra Divitotawela Ratwatte and they had two daughters Lilamanie and Areenie. He died on 11 July 1971, after a brief illness.

External links

The Ratwatte Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratwatte, A. C. L. 1909 births 1971 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Ceylonese Members of the Order of the British Empire High commissioners of Sri Lanka to Malaysia High commissioners of Sri Lanka to Ghana Mayors of Kandy Cudah Sri Lankan bankers Sri Lankan Buddhists United National Party politicians

See also

External links

References