D. P. Atapattu

Don Peter Atapattu (; ; 17 September 1899 – 14 December 1976) was a Ceylonese politician and Member of Parliament who represented the Beliatta electorate in the Hambantota district from March 1960 to July 1960 and from 1965 to 1970. A founding member of the United National Party (UNP), he was also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Minister of State, J. R. Jayewardene.

Early life and education

Don Peter Atapattu was born in Nakulugamuwa Walawwa in the town of Beliatta on 17 September 1899 to Don Johannes Atapattu and Kadawedduwage Dona Carolina Wijekoon. Johannes Atapattu was the Registrar of Births and Deaths for Nakulugamuwa in 1915 and was later awarded the title of Muhandiram in 1938. He had six younger brothers, Don Charles "D. C.", Buddhadasa, Luvi, Sugathadasa, Piyadasa and Charles; and one sister, Soma who was the mother-in-law of Karunasena Kodituwakku.

Atapattu first entered the prestigious Anglican school S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. His classics master, T. B. Jayah found that Atapattu did not have ideas that would fit in the discipline expected by warden William Arthur Stone, so he suggested him to join Ananda College, Colombo. At Ananda, Atapattu was educated under his new principal, P. de S. Kularatne, a novel idealist for the education of the Ceylonese. He was influenced by the teachers who were enthusiastic about the students there, including V. T. S. Sivagurunathan.

After graduating from Ananda, Atapattu enrolled as a law student in various schools, including Mahabodhi College. He was one of the upper school teachers and was also responsible for the students' drills and games throughout the 1922–23 school year.

Political career

Early political career (1919–1947)

In 1919, Atapattu joined the Ceylon National Congress, where he represented the Hambantota District in Southern Province, Sri Lanka. He was interested by the harmony among the Sinhalese and Tamil leadership, but got disillusioned when the Sinhala leaders of the CNC fought with the Tamils over the reserving of the Colombo seat.

Legal career

In 1927, Atapattu was called to the bar as a proctor to the Supreme Court of Ceylon. He thereafter started his legal practice in legal affairs in the Unofficial Bar in Tangalle. His success in making Tangalle eligible to be raised to an Urban Council saw him become its first chairman in 1945. Later, he was also chosen as the crown proctor of the Hambantota District.

United National Party (1947–1970)

When D. S. Senanayake formed the United National Party (UNP) in 1946, many politicians, including Atapattu and D. A. Rajapaksa, joined the party. Early on, both Atapattu and Rajapaksa fought for the Beliatta electorate in the Hambantota District at the six general parliamentary elections held between 1947 and 1965, but Rajapaksa left UNP in 1951 to join the Sri Lankan Freedom Party, leading Atapattu to compete with his former member in the elections.

In 1965, Atapattu led the Ceylonese delegation to the 11th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Wellington, New Zealand.

Parliamentary elections

Atapattu lost the 1947 parliamentary election when his opponent defeated him by a majority of 14,007 votes. Later on, in the 1952 and 1956 Ceylonese parliamentary elections, Atapattu lost the seat with 13,750 and 10,382 votes, which was 3,632 and 15,833 votes less than the opposition, respectively. At the parliamentary election of March 1960, Atapattu won the Beliatta seat, but when the UNP government was dissolved due to not having a majority, his opponent regained the seat in the July 1960 parliamentary election.

In the 1965 parliamentary election, Atapattu won the Beliatta seat again with 20,735 votes. He became the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Minister of State, J. R. Jayewardene until 1970.

Death

Atapattu died at Tangalle on 14 December 1976 following a prolonged illness. K. B. Ratnayake, then the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Sports, moved the vote of condolence six days later.

Personal life

While still in the Unofficial Bar in Tangalle, Atapattu married Daya Dahanayake in 1932. They had two children: Ranjit, who became the Minister of Health in 1982; and Indrani, who later migrated to Australia.

Legacy

On 26 September 1999, former Secretary General of Parliament Sam Wijesinha wrote an article in ''The Sunday Times'' Plus Section, titled: "''Reflections on the life and times of D.P. Atapattu, JPUM, Crown Proctor and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of State''". He wrote that Atapattu rendered reasonable service to the people of Ruhuna, and reflecting on his time, one hopes that future generations would continue to help prevent an obscure future.

See also

*List of political families in Sri Lanka

Notes

References

Sources

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atapattu, Don Peter
1899 births
1976 deaths
Ceylonese proctors
Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
Alumni of Ananda College
United National Party politicians
Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon
Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon
Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon
Sri Lankan justices of the peace and unofficial magistrates