Ratnayake Wasala Mudiyanselage Abeyratne Ratnayaka (7 January 1900 - 1977) was a

Sri Lanka 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, ...

n politician. He was the first

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

of Food, Co-operatives; Minister of Home Affairs in independent Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the last

President of the Senate of Ceylon The president of the Senate of Ceylon, was the presiding officer and the highest ranking-official of the Senate of Ceylon. The president of the Senate was the fourth most senior position in the government, following the governor general, the p ...

Education

He received his primary education at Dharmaraja College Kandy and secondary education at

Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Si ...

Political career

Ratnayaka was elected to the first State Council of Ceylon from Dumbara and reelected to the second State Council of Ceylon. As a member of the Executive Committee on Education, he suggested that education should be free from kindergarten to university, an idea he had received from a private member, which though supported by P. de S. Kularatne,

S. Natesan Subaiya Natesan (; also known as Subbaiya Nadesapillai; 21 May 1895 – 15 January 1965) was a Ceylonese politician, Member of State Council, Member of Parliament and senator. Early life and family Natesan was born on 21 May 1895. He wa ...

and T. B. Jayah, was opposed by

C. W. W. Kannangara Dr. Cristopher William Wijekoon Kannangara (Sinhala language, Sinhala ආචාර්ය ක්‍රිස්ටෝෆර් විලියම් විජේකෝන් කන්නන්ගර; 18 October 1894 – 23 September 1969) was a ...

. FORGOTTEN HEROES BEHIND THE TRUE STORY OF FREE EDUCATION AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN SRI LANKA
Prabath de Silva, Daily Mirror, 21-07-2020 A fresh look at Kannangara Reforms
Eric J. de Silva, The Island/Medium, 13-07-2021 He was elected to the first parliament from the

Wattegama Wattegama ( Sinhala: වත්තේගම, Tamil:வத்தேகம) is a town and Urban Council in Kandy District in the Central Province of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known ...

in the 1947 general elections from 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 ...

. Thereafter he was invited by

D. S. Senanayake Don Stephen Senanayake (; ; 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 ...

to join his cabinet as the Minister for Food and Cooperatives Undertakings. Following D. S. Senanayake's death he served in the same capacity until he was appointed Minister of Home Affairs in 1952, following the 1952 general elections when he was re-elected from Wattegama. He remained Minister of Home Affairs in the

Kotelawala cabinet The Kotelawala cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister John Kotelawala between 1953 and 1956. It was formed in October 1953 after the resignation of Kotelawala's predecessor Dudley Senanayake and ended in April 1956 af ...

until he was defeated at the 1956 general elections by Aloysius Weerakoon from the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

. Contesting the March 1960 general election, he was again defeated by Weerakoon, but won the subsequent July 1960 general election, with Weerakoon switching to the United National Party and contesting the seat of

Kundasale Kundasale (; ) is a former town, now a suburb of Kandy in Kandy District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. The town is situated to the southeast of the centre of Kandy. The population is about 150,000. History King Vira Parakrama Narendra Sinha ...

. He sat in the opposition until the 1965 general election when he allowed Weerakoon to contest his seat as the United National Party candidate. Ratnayaka was appointed to the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the Parliament of Ceylon, parliament of Dominion of Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It ...

in 1965 and was elected

succeeding

Thomas Amarasuriya Thomas Amarasuriya, OBE (17 June 1907 – 5 May 1979) was a Ceylonese planter and politician. He was a member of the State Council of Ceylon and President of the Senate of Ceylon. He was the first Ceylonese Chairman of the Planters Association an ...

and serving till the abolishment of the Senate in 1971.

Family

His daughter of Nalini Ratnayaka married Professor Punchi Bandara Sannasgala, an academic researcher on Sinhala language, Sinhala literature, Pali and Sanskrit. His granddaughter

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Kshanika Hirimburegama Sannas Mudiyanselage Kshanika Kumari Hirimburegama (known as Kshanika Hirimburegama) (born 1 January 1958) is a Sri Lankan academic. She was the 17th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo. Prior to the appointment she was Head of the Depar ...

, was the Vice Chancellor of the

University of Colombo The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a Public University, public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in t ...

and the first lady Chairperson of the University Grant Commission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratnayaka, Abeyratne Home affairs ministers of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians Presidents of the Senate of Ceylon Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of Dharmaraja College Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon 1900 births 1977 deaths