D. S. Senanayake
Don Stephen Senanayake (Sinhala: දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක; 20 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was an independence activist. He was the first Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1947 to 1952.
D. S. Senanayake | |
|---|---|
.jpg) D.S. Senanayake | |
| Prime Minister of Ceylon | |
| Assumed office 14 October 1947 | |
| Monarch | George VI Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Dudley Senanayake |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 October 1884 Botale, Negombo, British Ceylon |
| Died | 22 March 1952 (aged 67) Colombo, Dominion of Ceylon |
| Nationality | Ceylonese |
| Political party | United National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Molly Dunuwila |
Early life
He was born in the village Botale. He was the son of Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake and Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake. Brought up in a Buddhist family, he entered Anglican school S. Thomas' College, Mutwal. Though a smart student, at school Senanayake did not succeed. He witnessed Buck’s famous farewell speech "You have learned the best lessons from STC (St. Thomas’s College)... true manliness and truth, courage, purity and all those things that make a man a gentleman...".
D. S. Senanayake Media
Persons, seat L to R; Maria Frances Dias Bandaranaike nee Senanayake, Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake, Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake. Standing L to R; F.H. Dias-Bandaranaike, D. S. Senanayake,
Henry Pedris, a captain in the Colombo Town Guard, was executed by the British on the account of treason.
An RAF Bristol Blenheim bomber takes off from Colombo Racecourse in Ceylon during the war.
The formal ceremony marking the start of self-rule, with the opening of the first parliament at Independence Square by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester in the presence of D. S. Senanayake as first Prime Minister of Ceylon
D. S. Senanayake as Prime Minister with his Cabinet
D. S. Senanayake visiting the 1st battalion of the CLI at the Echelon Square
Wedding of D. S. Senanayake and Mollie Dunuwille in 1910
Statue of D. S. Senanayake erected in Kandy in 1969
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