Senerat Gunewardene: Difference between revisions

Hon.
Sir Senerat Gunewardene
Hon. Sir Senerat Gunewardene
Minister without Portfolio
	In office; 26 September 1947 – May 1948
Preceded by	Post created
Succeeded by	A. E. Gunasinha
Member of the Ceylon Parliament; for Gampola
	In office; 1947–1948
Preceded by	Seat created
Succeeded by	R. S. Pelpola
Personal details
Born	3 September 1899; Matara, Ceylon
Died	10 August 1981 (aged 81)
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Spouse	Sumana Pemi Gunewardene
Children	3
Parent	Don Bentis Serasinghe Gunewardene (father)
Alma mater	St.Thomas' College, Matara S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
Occupation	Politics, Diplomat
Profession	Advocate

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Sir Senerat Gunewardene (also known as Ratnakirti Senerat Serasinghe Gunewardene or R.S.S. Gunewardene) (3 November 1899 – 10 August 1981) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, statesmen and diplomat. He was the first Minister without Portfolio, member of parliament and member of the State Council for Gampola, before serving in several top diplomatic posts such as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy, Ceylon's Ambassador to the United States, where he was appointed concurrently as Ceylon's first Permanent Representative to United Nations and Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom.^[1]

Early life and education

Born on 3 November 1899 in Nupe, Matara as Samson Gunewardene, he later changed his name to Ratnakirthi Senerath Serasinghe Gunewardene and was known as R. S. S. Gunewardene. His father Don Bentis Serasinghe Gunewardene was an ayurvedic practitioner, he was the eldest in a family of three brothers and one sister. Both his brothers became lawyers and one went on to become a District Judge. Educated at St. Thomas' College, Matara and at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, where he was a good friend of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike.

Teaching career

He had to leave school before completing his schooling due to the death of his father. Returning to Matara, in order to support himself and his family, he became a teacher at St. Thomas' College, Matara at the age of 16. He thereafter earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London as an external student and joined the teaching staff of Royal College Colombo. Thereafter, he became served as principal of Sri Sumangala College, Panadura from 1921 to 1922.

Legal career

He started following the advocate's course at the Ceylon Law College and passed his advocate's finals in 1926. He was admitted to the bar as an Advocate in 1927. After qualifying as an advocate, Gunewardene gave up teaching and developed a successful legal practice in criminal defense and civil rights in the unofficial bar in Colombo. He was also a founder member and President of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress and was a member of the first board of management of the Colombo Young men's Buddhist Association.^[2]

Political career

Joining the colonial era politics in Ceylon with the establishment of the Ceylon National Congress, in which Gunewardene served as Joint Secretary from 1926 to 1932 jointly with S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and thereafter served as Vice President. During this time he campaigned for universal suffrage. In 1931, he indented to contest the first State Council election from Dhadagamuwa, but dropped out after contracting malaria. He then contested the Gampola seat just two weeks prior to and lost to T. B. Panabokke. In 1936 he was elected to the State Council of Ceylon from Gampola and was a member of the Executive Committee of Local Administration, which was chaired by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who was the Minister of Local Administration. In November 1936, he served as acting Minister of Local Administration. He was elected to the first parliament in the 1947 general election from Gampola. Gunewardene was appointed by D. S. Senanayake as Minister without Portfolio in his cabinet and chief government whip in parliament. However, he was unseated in parliament in May 1948 in an election petition and was succeeded by A. E. Gunasinha as Minister and government whip. He contested the by-election that followed in Gampola and lost to R. S. Pelpola from the United National Party.^[3]

Diplomatic career

In 1949, he was appointed as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy where he served until 1954. He was then appointed Ceylon's Ambassador to the United States, serving from March 1954 to August 1961. When Ceylon became a member of the United Nations in 1955, Gunewardene was appointed concurrently as the first Permanent Representative to United Nations, serving until 1958. In October 1961, he was appointed Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom serving till June 1963, when he was reappointed as Permanent Representative to United Nations, serving until 1965. During his time in Washington DC, he established the Buddhist Centre in Washington.^[3]

Honors

For his service to the government of Ceylon, he was knighted in the 1956 New Year Honours, the last to receive British honors before S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike suspend honors in 1956.^[4] In 1963, he was awarded a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of Ceylon.

Family

He married his wife Sumana Pemi Gunewardene, a close relative on 10 June 1927, they had three children.

References

^ "Our Heritage". sundaytimes.lk.
^ Chapter 399, Colombo Youngmen's Buddhist Association (PDF). Retrieved 20 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Our Heritage 061022". sundaytimes.lk.
^ "FOURTH SUPPLEMENT TO The London Gazette OF FRIDAY, 3oth DECEMBER, 1955". thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2020.

External links

Presentation of the credentials of the Head of the Mission of Ceylon to Walter Hallstein, President of the Commission of the EEC

[1] "Our Heritage". sundaytimes.lk.

[2] Chapter 399, Colombo Youngmen's Buddhist Association (PDF). Retrieved 20 October 2020.

[ref2-3] "Our Heritage 061022". sundaytimes.lk.

[4] "FOURTH SUPPLEMENT TO The London Gazette OF FRIDAY, 3oth DECEMBER, 1955". thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{refimprove|date=April 2016}}
+{{more citations needed|date=April 2016}}
 {{Infobox MP
-| honorific-prefix   = [[The Right Honourable|Rt. Hon.]] Sir
+| honorific-prefix   = [[The Honourable|Hon.]]
-| name                = Senerat Gunewardene
+| name                = Sir Senerat Gunewardene
-| honorific-suffix   = [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]]
+| honorific-suffix   =
 | image               = Senerat Gunewardene.jpg
-| image_size          = 130x
+| image_size          = 220px
 | order1               = [[Minister without Portfolio]]
 | term_start1          = 26 September 1947
-| term_end1            = 1948
+| term_end1            = May 1948
-| predecessor1         =
+| predecessor1         = ''Post created''
-| successor1           =
+| successor1           = [[A. Ekanayake Gunasinha|A. E. Gunasinha]]
-| constituency_MP     = [[Gampola Electoral District|Gampola]]
+| constituency_MP2    = [[Gampola Electoral District|Gampola]]
-| parliament          = Ceylon
+| parliament2          = Ceylon
-| majority            =
+| majority2            =
-| term_start          = 1947
+| term_start2          = 1947
-| term_end            = 1948
+| term_end2            = 1948
-| predecessor         = ''seat created''
+| predecessor2         = ''Seat created''
-| successor           = [[R. S. Pelpola]]
+| successor2           = [[R. S. Pelpola]]
 | birth_date          = {{birth date|1899|09|03|df=y}}
-| birth_place         =
+| birth_place         = [[Matara District|Matara]], [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]]
 | death_date          = {{death date and age|1981|08|10|1899|11|03|df=y}}
 | death_place         =
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 | occupation          = [[Politics]], [[Diplomat]]
 | otherparty          =
-| spouse              =
+| spouse              = Sumana Pemi Gunewardene
-| parents             =
+| parents             = Don Bentis Serasinghe Gunewardene (father)
 | relations           =
-| children            =
+| children            = 3
 | residence           =
-| alma_mater          = [[S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]]
+| alma_mater          = [[St.Thomas' College, Matara]]   [[S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]]
 | profession          = [[Advocate]]
 | religion            =
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 | footnotes           =
 }}
-[[Sir]] '''Ratnakirti Senerat Serasinghe Gunewardene''', [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]] (3 November 1899 &ndash; 10 August 1981) was a [[Sri Lanka]]n statesmen and diplomat. He was the Minister without Portfolio in the first post independence government and member of parliament, prior to which he had served as acting Minister of Local Government in the [[State Council of Ceylon]]. He later served as Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom, Ambassador to Italy and when he was serving as Ceylon's Ambassador to the United States he was appointed concurrently as the first Permanent Representative to United Nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/081214/FunDay/fundaytimes_2.html|title=Our Heritage|website=sundaytimes.lk}}</ref>
+'''Sir Senerat Gunewardene''' (also known as '''Ratnakirti Senerat Serasinghe Gunewardene''' or '''R.S.S. Gunewardene''') (3 November 1899 &ndash; 10 August 1981) was a [[Sri Lanka]]n lawyer, statesmen and diplomat. He was the first [[Minister without portfolio|Minister without Portfolio]], [[Member of Parliament (Sri Lanka)|member of parliament]] and [[State Council of Ceylon|member of the State Council]] for [[Gampola Electoral District|Gampola]], before serving in several top diplomatic posts such as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy, [[List of ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States|Ceylon's Ambassador to the United States]], where he was appointed concurrently as [[Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations|Ceylon's first Permanent Representative]] to [[United Nations]] and [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom|Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/081214/FunDay/fundaytimes_2.html|title=Our Heritage|website=sundaytimes.lk}}</ref>
-==Early life==
+== Early life and education ==
-Born in born on 3 November 1899 in Nupe, [[Matara]] as Samson Gunewardene, he later changed his name to Ratnakirthi Senerath Serasinghe Gunewardene. His father Don Bentis Serasinghe Gunewardene as an ayurvedic practitioner. Educated at [[S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]], he had to leave school before completing his final exams due to the death of his father. He then became a teacher at [[St. Thomas' College, Matara]], before completing his London exams joining the teaching staff of [[Royal College Colombo]]. Thereafter he became the first principal of [[Sri Sumangala College, Panadura]]. He started studying law at the [[Ceylon Law College]] and was admitted as an [[Advocate]] in 1927. Starting his [[legal practice]], he developed a successful practice in [[criminal defense]] and [[civil rights]].  He was also a founder member and President of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress.
+Born on 3 November 1899 in Nupe, [[Matara District|Matara]] as Samson Gunewardene, he later changed his name to Ratnakirthi Senerath Serasinghe Gunewardene and was known as R. S. S. Gunewardene. His father Don Bentis Serasinghe Gunewardene was an [[Sri Lankan traditional medicine|ayurvedic practitioner]], he was the eldest in a family of three brothers and one sister. Both his brothers became lawyers and one went on to become a [[District Courts of Sri Lanka|District Judge]]. Educated at [[St. Thomas' College, Matara]] and at [[S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]], where he was a good friend of [[S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike]].
-==Political career==
+== Teaching career ==
+He had to leave school before completing his schooling due to the death of his father. Returning to Matara, in order to support himself and his family, he became a teacher at [[St. Thomas' College, Matara]] at the age of 16. He thereafter earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from the [[University of London]] as an [[University of London International Programmes|external student]] and joined the teaching staff of [[Royal College Colombo]]. Thereafter, he became served as principal of [[Sri Sumangala College, Panadura]] from 1921 to 1922.
-Joining active politics in at the establishment of the [[Ceylon National Congress]], in which Gunewardene was its Joint Secretary (1926–32) and later Vice President. During this time he campaigned for [[universal suffrage]]. In 1936 he was elected to the [[State Council of Ceylon]] from [[Gampola]] and served as acting Minister of Local Government in November 1936. Retaining his seat in the 1947 general election, he entered the first post independence parliament and was selected by [[D. S. Senanayake]] as Minister without [[Ministry (government department)|portfolio]] in his first cabinet. Gunewardene was also the [[Government whip|chief government whip]] during this time. He lost his seat in an election petition and although he contested the by-election, he failed to win.<ref name="ref2">{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/061105/FunDay/heritage.html|title=Our Heritage 061022|website=sundaytimes.lk}}</ref>
-==Diplomatic career==
+== Legal career ==
+He started following the advocate's course at the [[Ceylon Law College]] and passed his advocate's finals in 1926. He was [[Called to the bar|admitted to the bar]] as an [[Advocate]] in 1927. After qualifying as an advocate, Gunewardene gave up teaching and developed a successful [[legal practice]] in [[criminal defense]] and [[civil rights]] in the [[unofficial bar]] in Colombo. He was also a founder member and President of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress and was a member of the first board of management of the Colombo Young men's Buddhist Association.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chapter 399, Colombo Youngmen's Buddhist Association |url=http://www.commonlii.org/lk/legis/consol_act/cymba399449.pdf |access-date=20 October 2020}}</ref>
-In 1949, he was appointed as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy where he served until 1954 when he was appointed Ceylon's Ambassador to the United States. When Ceylon became a member of the [[United Nations]] in 1955, Gunewardene was appointed concurrently as the first [[Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations|Permanent Representative to United Nations]], serving until 1958. He was reappointed as Permanent Representative to United Nations in 1963 serving until 1965. During his time in Washington DC, he established the Buddhist Centre in Washington.<ref name="ref2"/>
+== Political career ==
-==Honors==
+Joining the colonial era politics in Ceylon with the establishment of the [[Ceylon National Congress]], in which Gunewardene served as Joint Secretary from 1926 to 1932 jointly with S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and thereafter served as Vice President. During this time he campaigned for [[universal suffrage]]. In 1931, he indented to contest the [[1931 Ceylonese State Council election|first State Council election]] from Dhadagamuwa, but dropped out after contracting [[malaria]]. He then contested the [[Gampola Electoral District|Gampola]] seat just two weeks prior to and lost to [[T. B. Panabokke]]. In 1936 he was elected to the [[State Council of Ceylon]] from Gampola and was a member of the Executive Committee of Local Administration, which was chaired by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who was the Minister of Local Administration. In November 1936, he served as acting Minister of Local Administration. He was elected to the [[1st Parliament of Ceylon|first parliament]] in the [[1947 Ceylonese parliamentary election|1947 general election]] from Gampola. Gunewardene was appointed by [[D. S. Senanayake]] as [[Minister without portfolio|Minister without Portfolio]] in his [[D. S. Senanayake cabinet|cabinet]] and [[Government whip|chief government whip]] in parliament. However, he was unseated in parliament in May 1948 in an election petition and was succeeded by [[A. Ekanayake Gunasinha|A. E. Gunasinha]] as Minister and government whip. He contested the by-election that followed in Gampola and lost to [[R. S. Pelpola]] from the [[United National Party]].<ref name="ref2">{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/061105/FunDay/heritage.html|title=Our Heritage 061022|website=sundaytimes.lk}}</ref>
-For his service to the government of Ceylon, he was made a [[Order of the British Empire|Knight Commander of the British Empire]].
+== Diplomatic career ==
+In 1949, he was appointed as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy where he served until 1954. He was then appointed [[List of ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States|Ceylon's Ambassador to the United States]], serving from March 1954 to August 1961. When Ceylon became a member of the [[United Nations]] in 1955, Gunewardene was appointed concurrently as the first [[Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations|Permanent Representative to United Nations]], serving until 1958. In October 1961, he was appointed [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom|Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom]] serving till June 1963, when he was reappointed as Permanent Representative to United Nations, serving until 1965. During his time in Washington DC, he established the Buddhist Centre in Washington.<ref name="ref2"/>
+== Honors ==
+For his service to the government of Ceylon, he was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1956 New Year Honours]], the last to receive [[Ceylonese recipients of British titles|British honors]] before S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike suspend honors in 1956.<ref>{{cite web |title=FOURTH SUPPLEMENT TO The London Gazette OF FRIDAY, 3oth DECEMBER, 1955 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40672/supplement/47 |website=thegazette.co.uk |access-date=20 October 2020}}</ref> In 1963, he was awarded a [[Doctor of Law]]s ([[honoris causa]]) from the [[University of Ceylon]].
 ==Family==
-He married his wife Sumana Pemi Gunewardene on 10 June 1927, they had three children.
+He married his wife Sumana Pemi Gunewardene, a close relative on 10 June 1927, they had three children.
 == See also ==
@@ Line 64: / Line 70: @@
 *[http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/photo/photoByReportage.cfm?ref=009382&sitelang=en Presentation of the credentials of the Head of the Mission of Ceylon to Walter Hallstein, President of the Commission of the EEC]
+{{Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon}}
 {{Members of 1st Parliament of Ceylon}}
@@ Line 69: / Line 76: @@
 [[Category:1899 births]]
 [[Category:1981 deaths]]
-[[Category:Sinhalese lawyers]]
+[[Category:Ceylonese advocates]]
-[[Category:Sinhalese diplomats]]
+[[Category:Sinhalese people]]
-[[Category:Sinhalese politicians]]
+[[Category:Sri Lankan lawyers]]
 [[Category:Government ministers of Sri Lanka]]
 [[Category:Sri Lankan Buddhists]]
 [[Category:Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon]]
 [[Category:Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon]]
+[[Category:High commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States]]
 [[Category:Permanent Representatives of Sri Lanka to the United Nations]]
 [[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Italy]]
-[[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States]]
+[[Category:Ceylonese Knights Bachelor]]
-[[Category:High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Alumni of Ceylon Law College]]
-[[Category:Ceylonese Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
+[[Category:Alumni of University of London Worldwide]]
-[[Category:Ceylonese knights]]
 [[Category:Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]]
+[[Category:Faculty of Royal College, Colombo]]

v t e ← // Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon (1947 (1947)–1952) →
Speaker: Alexander Francis Molamure/Albert Peries Prime Minister: D. S. Senanayake/Dudley Senanayake Leader of the Opposition: N. M. Perera
Central Province (15)	M. D. Banda George E. de Silva T. B. Ilangaratne, Tamara Kumari Ilangaratne Senerat Gunewardene R. S. Pelpola Karuppiah Kumaravelu G. R. Motha Abdul Aziz V. T. Nanayakkara E. A. Nugawela T. B. Panabokke H. R. U. Premachandra K. Rajalingam H. B. Rambukwella Abeyratne Ratnayaka H. B. Tenne Savumiamoorthy Thondaman C. V. Velupillai
Eastern Province (7)	A. R. A. M. Abubucker S. U. Ethirmanasingham M. M. Ebrahim M. S. Kariapper Ahamed Lebbe Sinne Lebbe V. Nalliah S. Sivapalan
Northern Province (9)	S. J. V. Chelvanayakam K. Kanagaratnam V. Kumaraswamy G. G. Ponnambalam T. Ramalingam C. Sittampalam C. Suntharalingam Alfred Thambiayah C. Vanniasingam
North Central Province (5)	P. L. Bauddhasara P. B. Bulankulame S. H. Mahadiulwewa T. B. Poholiyadde Maithripala Senanayake
North Western Province (10)	Ivan Dassanayake J. J. Fernando Kavisena Herath I. M. R. A. Iriyagolle Hameed Hussain Sheikh Ismail John Kotelawala Albert Peries Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake Herbert Sri Nissanka Tikiri Banda Subasinghe
Sabaragamuwa Province (10)	C. E. Attygalle D. F. Hettiarachchi N. H. Keerthiratne E. W. Mathew Alexander Francis Molamure Jayaweera Kuruppu N. M. Perera Reginald Perera Harris Leuke Ratwatte Dudley Senanayake Florence Senanayake
Southern Province (12)	H. D. Abeygoonewardane Simon Abeywickrema H. W. Amarasuriya Wijeyananda Dahanayake William de Silva Arthur de Zoysa Walwin de Silva) D. S. Goonesekera Montague Jayawickrama P. Kumarasiri D. A. Rajapaksa Lakshman Rajapaksa V. G. W. Ratnayake W. Wickremasinghe
Uva Province (7)	Leo Fernando J. C. T. Kotelawala K. V. Nadarajah D. Ramanujam J. A. Rambukpota S. M. Subbaiah K. D. Sugathadasa
Western Province (20)	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Somaweera Chandrasiri R. A. de Mel T. F. Jayewardene Colvin R. de Silva George R. de Silva A. Ekanayake Gunasinha Cholomondeley Goonewardene Philip Gunawardena Kusumasiri Gunawardena Robert Gunawardena T. B. Jayah M. C. M. Kaleel A. P. Jayasuriya D. P. Jayasuriya J. R. Jayewardene D. D. Karunaratne P. P. Jayawardena Pieter Keuneman Wilmot A. Perera Henry Peiris D. S. Senanayake S. A. Silva H. de Z. Siriwardena
Appointed (6)	E. F. N. Gratiaen Rosslyn Koch F. H. Griffith R. Singleton-Salmon J. A. Martenze J. W. Oldfield S. A. Pakeman G. R. Whitby