Cyril Eugene Attygalle (6 February 1905 – 30 April 1980) was a

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

ese politician. Cyril Eugene Attygalle was born 6 February 1905 in Weralupe,

Ratnapura Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located ...

, the sixth in a family of eleven (nine sons and two daughters), to Don Louis Attygalle, was a

shroff Shroff is a surname. The word is derived from the Hindustani word ''saraf'' (bullion merchant , Baniya), which in turn, is ultimately derived from the Arabic ''ṣarrāf''. The word is also used to mean a cashier, especially in a car park or iden ...

and later Mudaliyar at the

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and ac ...

, and Dolicia Jane Haddagoda. His elder brother

Nicholas Attygalle Sir Nicholas Attygalle (14 July 1894 – 27 March 1970) was a Ceylonese academic, surgeon and a Senator. He was the President of the Senate of Ceylon from 1953 to 1960 and the first Ceylonese Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, where h ...

was the President of the

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

(1953 – 1960) and the first Ceylonese

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

of the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...

. Attygalle received his education at St. Joseph’s College and

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

in Colombo. In 1926 he joined the

Ceylon Police Force (The one who lives by the Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma itself) , mission = , formedyear = , preceding1 = Ceylon Police Force (1866–1972) , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = ...

as a

Sub-inspector Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police, is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which is primarily based on the British model. It was formerly used in most British col ...

but resigned six months later and took up planting in Gilimale North. He lived in Colombo and engaged in business as a Produce Broker between 1934 and 1940. In 1936 he married Brenhilde and they had three children. In 1944 he was elected to the Ratnapura

Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Serv ...

, representing the Weralupe Ward. Attygalle was elected to parliament, as the member for the Ratnapura electorate, at the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947, representing the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

. He received 6,603 votes (50% of the total vote), which was 1,799 votes ahead of his nearest rival, A. H. Wijetunge, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party candidate. He was appointed as the Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Trade and Commerce in the D. S. Senanayake cabinet. Attygalle was one of the parliamentary members of the ''Kandyan Peasantry Commission'', one of the first Royal Commissions established by the first post-Independence

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

D. S. Senanayake in January 1949, replacing

M. D. Banda Mohottalage Dingiri Banda (known as ''M.D Banda'') was a former Divisional Revenue Officer (DRO) and subsequently a Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Under the British Colonial Regional Administration system in 19 ...

upon his appointment as a Cabinet Minister. The Commission was convened to investigate the social and economic life of the Kandyan peasantry in the

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

and

Uva Province Uva Province ( si, ඌව පළාත, Uva Paḷāta, ta, ஊவா மாகாணம், Uvā Mākāṇam) is Sri Lanka's second least populated province, with 1,259,880 people, created in 1896. It consists of two districts: Badulla and ...

s and to determine what measures should be adopted to ameliorate their condition. He successfully re-contested the seat at 2nd parliamentary election, held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952, increasing his margin to 53.8% of the total vote, 1,811 votes in front of the other candidate for the seat. He was subsequently appointed the Parliamentary secretary to the

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in the first Dudley Senanayake and Kotelawala cabinets. In 1952 he represented the country at the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

. Attygalle ran again in the 3rd parliamentary election, held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956, however this time he failed to retain the seat of Ratnapura losing to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate,

Jayaweera Kuruppu Jayaweera Kuruppu (20 January 1908 – 1962) was a Ceylonese politician. In 1936 he served as the vice chairman of the Provincial Council of Ratnapura and in 1944 he was elected as the chairman of the Ratnapura Urban Council. At the 1st p ...

, by 10,358 votes, only managing to secure 26.7% of the total vote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Attygalle, Cyril Eugene 1905 births 1980 deaths Alumni of Saint Joseph's College, Colombo Alumni of Ananda College Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon People from Ratnapura District Sinhalese people Sri Lankan police inspectors United National Party politicians