Uda Walawwe Bernard Herbert Aluwihare also known as Bernard Aluwihare (6 April 1902 - 22 January 1961) 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 lawyer and politician who served in both the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...

and

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் '' ...

. He was a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament from Matale. He became the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and Cultural Affairs in Second Dudley Senanayake cabinet in 1960.

Early life and education

Born to a

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

an radala family, son of T. B. Aluwihare and Panebokke Tikiri Kumarihamy, daughter of Panabokke Dissawe. His mother died two days after his birth. His elder brothers were Richard Aluwihare and William Aluwihare. Educated at Trinity College, Kandy and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, he studied law at the Ceylon Law College and qualified as a

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

and there after went to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

for further studies in law. He established his legal practice in the

unofficial bar The unofficial bar in 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, separa ...

of Kandy,

William Gopallawa William Gopallawa (, ; 17 September 1896 – 31 January 1981) was a Sri Lankan politician and statesman who served as the last Governor-General of Ceylon from 1962 to 1972 and the first and only non-executive President of Sri Lanka from 1972 to ...

was one of his juniors. He married Dr Florence Ram who he met in England, she was the daughter of Dr L. Ram from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The family had a close friendship with the

Nehru–Gandhi family The Nehru–Gandhi family is an Indian political family that has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India. The involvement of the family has traditionally revolved around the Indian National Congress, as various members have tradit ...

Political career

He was first elected

from Matale in 1936, he had been wounded in the head when he was shot at by a supporter of his opponent. He briefly served in the war cabinet. He contested the 1st parliamentary election in 1947 from the Matale electorate as an independent but lost to V. T. Nanayakkara. He joined S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in the formation of 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 ...

, but left soon after its formation to contest 1952 general election as an independent and won defeating V. T. Nanayakkara who had contested 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 ...

. Joining the United National Party, contested the 1956 general election from Matale from the United National Party but was defeated by Nimal Karunatilake the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate. He won back his seat in the March 1960 general election and was appointed Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in the short lived government that fell three months later. Aluwihare retained his seat in the July 1960 general election while the Sri Lanka Freedom Party won the election and established a government. He was diagnosed with cancer soon after and died on 22 January 1961, while in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for medical treatment. His nephew Alick Aluwihare succeeded his seat in parliament.

References

External links

Aluvihare, Udawalawwe Bernard Herbert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aluwihare, Bernard Ceylonese proctors Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon 1902 births 1961 deaths Ministers of education of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Alumni of Ceylon Law College Culture ministers of Sri Lanka

Early life and education

Political career

See also

References

External links