Christophel Panini Illangakoon () (10 November 1919 – 10 February 1989) 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 a member of parliament from

Weligama Weligama (, ) is a town on the south coast of Sri Lanka, located in Matara District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. The name ''Weligama'', literally means "sandy village" which refers to the area's sandy sweep bay. It ...

in Matara and a first cousin of

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...

, former

Prime Minister of Ceylon The prime minister of Sri Lanka, officially the prime minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's exec ...

Early life and education

Ilangakoon was born on 26 November 1919 at Weligama to

Gate Mudaliyar Mudaliyar (or Mudali) was a Ceylon, Ceylonese colonial title during Portuguese Ceylon, Portuguese and British Ceylon, British rule of the island. Stemming from the Native headmen of Ceylon, native headman system, the title was usually hereditary, ...

Simon William Ilangakoon and Liliyan Augusta Obeysekera, daughter of Sir Solomon Christoffel Obeyesekere, a member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of represe ...

. He received his primary and secondary education at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and completed his studies in agriculture in Bangalore and in the United Kingdom.

Political career

Ilangakoon entered politics in 1947 being elected member of the Weligama Urban Council. He became a member of the newly formed

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 ...

in 1952 and contested the

seat unsuccessfully, losing to

Montague Jayawickrama Major (rank), Major Deshamanya Walter Geoffrey Montague "Monti" Jayawickrama (January 15, 1911 – November 16, 2001) was a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the Minister of Communications and Works (Ceylon), Minister of Transport and Publ ...

. In 1956, he elected in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

defeating Jayawickrama. He was defeated by Jayawickrama in 1960, but was able to defeat Jayawickrama and was elected in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, to be defeated again in 1977 by Jayawickrama.

Family

Ilangakoon was married twice, firstly to Effie née Samarakkody with whom he had a son, Panini (Jr); then to Lilly née Goonasekere with whom he had Gamini. His first wife Effie remarried

Robert Edward Jayatilaka Robert Edward Jayatilaka (16 August 1911 – ??) was a Ceylonese politician. Education and teaching career Robert Edward, also known as "Eric", Jayatilaka, attended Richmond College, Galle and, after qualifying as a teacher, taught for a num ...

and was later elected as the Chairman of the Nawalapitiya Urban Council. She was the first woman in the country to head an Urban Council. Ilangakoon died on 10 February 1989, aged 69.

References

External links

Illangakone Family

Commemorating Panini Illangakoon

Ilangakoon, Christoffel Panini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilangakoon, Panini 1919 births 1989 deaths Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Bandaranaike family Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon People from Southern Province, Sri Lanka People from British Ceylon Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians

Early life and education

Political career

Family

See also

References

External links