Solomon Bandaranaike

Infobox Prime Minister


order =4th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
term_start =1956
term_end =1959
monarch = Queen Elizabeth II
predecessor =John Lionel Kotalawela
successor =Wijeyananda Dahanayake
birth_date =January 8, 1899
birth_place =Ceylon
death_date =September 26, 1959
death_place =Colombo, Sri Lanka (assassinated)
party =Sri Lanka Freedom Party
spouse =Sirimavo Bandaranaike
religion =Buddhist|

Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (January 8, 1899 – September 26, 1959) was the fourth Prime Minister (1956-1959) of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka).cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-51488/S-W-R-D-Bandaranaike|title=S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, or Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (prime minister of Sri Lanka)|publisher=BRITANNICA Online] cite web|url=http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=202162|title=BANDARANAIKE, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias|publisher=HISTORY.COM] cite web|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573376/Bandaranaike_Solomon_West_Ridgeway_Dias.html|title=Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike|publisher=Encarta.MSN]

Early life & education

Bandaranaike was born in Colombo, Ceylon to an elite Sinhalese Anglican Christian family and was the son of the powerful Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranike the Maha Mudaliyar (the chief native interpreter and advisor to the Governor) of Horagolla Walauwa in Atthanagalla,during British colonial rule. In later life he converted to Buddhism in order to join politics [Nyrop 197] . He received his secondary education at St Thomas' College and went on to study at Christ Church, Oxford University, where he was Secretary of the famous Oxford Union. He later qualified as a Barrister in England.

Political career

He entered politics in 1926 as a member of the United National Party when he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council. As a young lawyer he became active in the United National Party (UNP) and from 1931 to 1951 served the party in legislative the State Council and held ministerial posts. In 1951, Bandaranaike led his faction, the "Sinhala Maha Sabha", out of the UNP and established the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

In order to promote Sinhalese culture and community interests, Bandaranaike had organized the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1937. He became prime minister after winning the 1956 elections at the head of a four-party coalition. As such, Bandaranaike made Sinhalese the official language of the country and downgraded the official status of English and Tamil and promoted socialist, non-Western policies that profoundly changed the course of Ceylonese politics in the following decades. Since the 1950s, SLFP platforms have reflected the earlier organization's emphasis on appealing to the sentiments of the Sinhalese masses in rural areas. To this basis has been added the antiestablishment appeal of nonrevolutionary socialism.

On the sensitive issue of language, the party originally espoused the use of both Sinhala and Tamil as national languages, but in the mid-1950s it adopted a "Sinhala only" policy, a change that gave the party a landslide victory in the 1956 election. As a party that says it is a champion of the Buddhist religion, which had been attacked by local Christians and Tamils alike during the colonial era. The SLFP has customarily relied upon the socially and politically influential Buddhist clergy, the sangha, to carry its message to the Sinhalese villages.

As prime minister, he took a neutralist stance in foreign affairs; domestically, he was faced by economic problems and disputes over languages. He is also remembered by the minority Sri Lankan Tamils for his inaction to use the states resources to control the 1958 riots leading to countless deaths and rapes by the Sinhalese mobs and the death of Sinhalese due to Tamil mobs.

Death

He was assassinated by Talduwe Somarama, a Buddhist monk, in 1959, and his wife, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, assumed leadership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. She became the world's first woman Prime Minister and held the post three times.

Family life

He was the husband of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who became the first female prime minister in the world following his assassination. He was father of Chandrika Kumaratunga, who was subsequently Prime Minister and President of Sri Lanka; Sunethra Bandaranaike and Anura Bandaranaike.

Footnotes

References

*cite book |last= Nyrop |first= Richard |coauthors= |title= Sri Lanka, a Country Study |publisher= Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O. |year= 1982 |month= |isbn=

External links

* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen1001.html The Bandaranaike Ancestry]
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen3060.html The Ratwatte Ancestry]
* [http://internet-moneys.com/data/Political_families_of_the_world Political Families of The World]
* [http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/09/25/fea01.asp 49 years after S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike]
* [http://www.island.lk/2008/09/26/features3.html Trail-Blazing Leader]
* [http://www.parliament.lk/handbook_of_parliament/prime_ministers.jsp Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka]
* [http://www.srilankafreedomparty.org/ Sri Lanka Freedom Party's official Website]

"This page incorporates text from the Library of Congress's Country Studies series."