Pesteruweliyanarallage Andrew Cooray (5 August 1901 – 2 June 1998) was a member of the

Parliament of Ceylon The Parliament of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon & Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Constitution, prior to independence on 4 February 1948. Parliament replaced the State Council of Ceylon. ...

Biography

Pesteruweliyanarallage Andrew Cooray was born 5 August 1901, the eldest in a family of eleven. He was a founding 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 ...

(UNP) entering politics in 1928, two years after he passed out 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 ...

. In 1927 Cooray became a village committee member for Maggona and Payagala. He then contested and was elected onto the

Kalutara Urban Council Kalutura Urban Council (KUC) is the local authority for the town of Kalutara in the Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. The KUC is responsible for providing a variety of local public services including roads, sanitation, drains, housin ...

, a position he retained for thirty years. In 1938 he was appointed chairman of the Urban Council, a position he retained for fourteen years. In 1952 he contested the second parliamentary elections for the UNP in the Kalutara electorate successfully defeating the sitting member, Cholomondeley Goonewardene, from the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist po ...

, by 332 votes (a margin of just under 1% of the total vote). In 1965 he sought re-election at the 3rd parliamentary elections but finished third, losing to Goonewardene by 4,108 votes. In 1934 Cooray started distilling arrack and vinegar at his Anwil Distillery. He was also the owner of the Neboda Omnibus Company and the chairman of Free Lanka Finance Ltd. He also, as a board member of Global Films, produced several films including '' Kalu Diya Dahara'', which debuted

Ravindra Randeniya Liyanage Boniface Walter Perera (born 5 June 1945), popularly known by his stage name Ravindra Randeniya, is a Sri Lankan actor and former politician. He rose to fame in Lester James Peries's film ''Desa Nisa'' in 1975, and was a popular actor d ...

, and ''

The God King ''The God King'' is a 1974 British–Sri Lankan historical film directed by Lester James Peries. The film is based on the historical clash between brothers Kasyapa and Moggalana on Sigiriya Rock. Producer Dimitri de Grunwald financed the epic ...

'', which was directed by

Lester James Peiris Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාභිමාන්‍ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter, an ...

. Cooray died on 2 June 1998, at the age of 96, the oldest surviving member of the United National Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooray, P. A. 1901 births 1998 deaths Ceylonese proctors Sinhalese people Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon United National Party politicians 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers