Samuel Dias Bandaranayake (1 December 1917 – 3 June 2014) 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, ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

politician and a member of

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

representing

Gampaha Gampaha (Sinhala: ගම්පහ ; Tamil: கம்பஹா ) is an urban city in Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated to the north-east of the capital Colombo. It is the sixth largest urban area in Western Provinc ...

Early life and education

Born to a wealthy family, his father was Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranayake,

Muhandiram Muhandiram (, ) was a post in the native headmen system in the lower-country (coastal districts) of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during the colonial era. It was awarded as a title of honor until suspension of Ceylonese honours in 1956. History The post ...

of the Guard and Siyane Korale and his mother was the daughter of Mudaliyar Ekanayake from Matara, his grandfather was Conrad (Peter) Petrus Dias Wijewardena Bandaranaike,

Maha Mudaliyar The Maha Mudaliyar (''Head Mudaliyar'' or මහ මුදලි) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Head Mudaliyar functioned as the head of the low country native headmen and native aide-de-camp to the Governor of Ceylon. ...

. He was a 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 ...

. He was educated at

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

, St. Thomas' College, Matara and studied agriculture at the

University of Travancore University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithira ...

. While in India he met figures such as

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

. On his return he joined the newly formed Ceylon Agricultural Corps as a Commandant during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war he entered politics, campaigning for S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and joined his 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 ...

. He was elected to parliament in 1952 general election from the Gampaha electorate, however he did not accept the office due to disagreements with S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike on the

Sinhala Only Act The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the exclusio ...

. However, he was instrumental in stopping

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

's march to Kandy in protest of the

Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact The Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact was an agreement signed between the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and the leader of the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka S. J. V. Chelvanayakam on July 26, 1957. It advocated ...

. He was re-elected in the next four elections in 1956, 1960 March, 1960 July and 1965. He lost his seat to A. T. Basnayake of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, having contested the 1970 general election as an independent. He was involved in the

1971 JVP Insurrection The 1971 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection (also known as the 1971 Revolt) was the first of two unsuccessful armed revolts conducted by the communist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the socialist United Front Government of ...

against the SLFP led government under

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (; ; ; 17 April 1916 – 10 October 2000), commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government, world's first fe ...

. The Criminal Justice Commission which was set up to prosecute insurgents found him guilty of two counts of being a member of the JVP and attending the five lectures. He was given a suspended sentence of two years. In 1977, he was reelected in the 1977 general election from the

Family

His son,

Pandu Pandu () was the king of Kuru kingdom, with capital at Hastinapur in the epic '' Mahabharata''. He was the foster-father of the five Pandavas, who are the central characters of the epic. Pandu was born pale, to Vichitravirya's second wife ...

, was a member of parliament, representing

between 1994 and 2009.

References

Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna members Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia SD Prisoners and detainees of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees Sri Lankan politicians convicted of crimes 1917 births 2014 deaths {{WesternLK-politician-stub

Early life and education

Family

See also

References