Savumiamoorthy Thondaman

Infobox Person
name= Savumiamoorthy Thondaman


caption=
birth_date= birth date|1913|8|30|mf=y
birth_place=Muna Pudur,Madras State India
dead=
death_date= death date and age|1999|10|30|1913|8|30|mf=y)
death_place=Colombo Sri Lanka
occupation= Politician
spouse= Kothai Thondaman

Savumiamoorthy Thondaman (August 30, 1913 - October 30, 1999) also spelled "Saumyamurthy Thondaman". Indian born Sri Lankan Tamil politician reprecented the Sri Lankan Tamils of Indian origin. At the time of his death, he was both the oldest and the seniormost members of the Sri Lankan Cabinet where he had served continuously for 21 years from 1978, under four Sri Lankan Presidents and the leader of the political party Ceylon Workers' Congress. [cite web |url=http://www.tamilnation.org/hundredtamils/thondaman.htm |title=One Hundred Tamils of the 20th/21st Centuries |accessdate=2006-11-26 |author=D.B.S.Jeyaraj
authorlink= |coauthors= |date=13 |year=1999 |month=November|format= |work= |publisher=Frontline |pages= |language=English |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

Biography

Early life

Thondaman was born in Muna Pudur, TamilNadu (then called Madras State) India, the son of Kumaravel Karuppaiah and Sithammai; father Kumaravel Karuppaiah was from Thondaman clan that ruled parts of Ramanathapuram District and had established links with Jaffna. He lived with his mother and three elder sisters in Munna pudur and he saw his father for the first time when he was seven. His father used to spend long spells of time in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) for work. Thondaman attended the newly established local Tamil school in Munna Pudur till 1924, when he left for Ceylon to join his father. At that time Thondaman's father Karuppaia was an estate owner in Nuwara Eliya District, he rose to be the first native to own a tea estate in Ceylon from a normal laborer. Once with his father he attended a small estate school for 3 years, later in 1927 he joined St. Andrews College of Gampola. Thondaman was at St. Andrew's for five years, from 1927 to 1932.

Notes

References

T.sabaratnam. "Out Of Bondage – The Thondaman Story." www.lankalibrary.com. 27 Nov. 2006 .