Seetha "Sita" Seneviratne (''née'' Molamure) (1914–1998) was a Ceylonese politician. She was a member of the

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

and member of the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் '' ...

for

Balangoda Balangoda is a town in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an urban council located away from Colombo and from Ratnapura on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the Sabaragamuwa Pro ...

Early life and family

Seetha was the only child of Sir Alexander Francis Molamure (the first

speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of both the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...

and

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. ...

) and Lady

Adeline Adeline may refer to: People *Adeline (given name) *Yves-Marie Adeline (born 1960), French Catholic writer Places *Adeline, Illinois, village in Maryland Township, Ogle County, Illinois, US Arts and entertainment *Adeline Records, recording lab ...

(the first female member of

). She married Leopold James de S. Seneviratne of the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of th ...

, who went on the serve as Secretary to the Treasury. Their children were Lakshman Chandra ( PC) and Sunethra who married Sepala Ilangakoon, the Chairman and Managing Director of Mackwoods Estates, as well as the Chairman of the Tea Board.

Political career

In March 1965 she unsuccessfully contested in the Pelmadulla electorate at the 6th parliamentary election, as 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 ...

candidate, where she lost to the incumbent, W. A. Karunasena, of the

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 ...

by 3,340 votes. She again unsuccessfully contested the October 1967 by-election for Pelmadulla, this time against

Dharmadasa Wanniarachchi Dharmadasa Wanniarachchi () (8 June 1921 - 5 October 2007) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the seventh Governor of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka and a former member of the Sri Lankan Parliament. Born Wanni Arachchilage Dharmadasa, h ...

, who defeated her 12,627 votes to 9,842 votes. In 1967 she was appointed to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and had served as the Chairperson of the National Council for Child and Youth Welfare. She resigned from the Senate in April 1970. At the 7th parliamentary elections in May 1970 she ran as the United National Party candidate in the Balangoda electorate, and was elected the second member from Balangoda coming behind the

candidate, Mallika Ratwatte, 11,616 votes to 18,808 votes.

References

Members of the Senate of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Alumni of Bishop's College, Colombo United National Party politicians Women legislators in Sri Lanka 1914 births 1998 deaths {{SriLanka-bio-stub

Early life and family

Political career

See also

References