Solomon Bandaranaike

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Solomon Bandaranaike
Solomon Bandaranaike
In office
1956 – 1959
Preceded by John Lionel Kotalawela
Succeeded by Wijeyananda Dahanayake
Born January 8, 1899
Ceylon
Died September 26, 1959
Colombo, Sri Lanka (assassinated)
Political 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).[1] [2] [3]

Contents

[edit] 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) during British colonial rule. In later life he converted to Buddhism in order to join politics. 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Death

He was assassinated by Talduwe Somarama, a person impersonating 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, or Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (prime minister of Sri Lanka). BRITANNICA Online.
  2. ^ BANDARANAIKE, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias. HISTORY.COM.
  3. ^ Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike. Encarta.MSN.

[edit] External links

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

Government offices
Preceded by
John Lionel Kotalawela		 Prime Minister of Ceylon
1956–1959		 Succeeded by
Wijeyananda Dahanayake
v • d • e
Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka
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