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John Kotelawala
General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala CH KBE KStJ PC (Sinhala: ශ්රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from 1953 to 1956.
Born to a wealthy landholding and mining family, Kotelawala had a difficult childhood with the suicide of his father and the financial difficulties that followed. He was educated at Royal College, Colombo, and Christ's College, Cambridge, before returning to become a planter and run the family estates and mines. Kotelawala joined the Ceylon Defense Force as a volunteer officer in 1922. Being from a politically active family, he entered mainstream politics in 1931 having been elected to the State Council of Ceylon. He went on to serve as Minister of Communications and Works in the Second Board of Ministers of Ceylon. Having served as the commanding officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry, he transferred to the reserve with the rank of colonel in 1942.
With Ceylon gaining independence in 1948, he was elected to Parliament and became a member of the first Cabinet as Minister of Transport and Works. He was overlooked for the post of prime minister when his uncle, the first prime minister of Ceylon, D. S. Senanayake, died suddenly. A year later he succeeded his cousin, Dudley Senanayake, as the third Prime Minister of Ceylon, serving until his party lost the general election in 1956. Kotelawala retired from politics thereafter, going to self-imposed exile in Kent. Having donated his home, Kandawala, to the state to form a defense university, he was granted the rank of general on his deathbed.
Kotelawala was born on 4 April 1897 to John Kotelawala Snr, a police inspector, who later turned businessman and Alice Elisabeth Kotelawala (née Attygalle), daughter of Mudaliyar Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle, a wealthy land and mine owner. He had a younger brother Justin Kotelawala and a sister Freda, who later married C. V. S. Corea.
The Kotelawalas lived in considerable comfort owing to the considerable land and mine holdings of his grandfather Mudaliyar Attygalle, which his father managed following the death of his grandfather. After he was forced out of the management of the Attygalle estates by the family, Kotelawala Snr started his own business ventures including the Ceylon-Japan Trading Company. In 1907, he was arrested and found guilty of conspiring to murder his brother-in-law, Francis Attygalle. While the murder trial was underway, Kotelawala Snr committed suicide by poisoning himself.
Kotelawala was eleven years old when his father died and with this, the family fortunes declined after much funds were spent in the legal defence of his father. Alice Kotelawala who had converted to Christianity slowly built up the family wealth through careful management of their remaining land holdings and the share of the Kahatagaha graphite mine, which she received from her younger sister Ellen and brother-in-law, Fredrick Richard Senanayake. She was reputed for her social work and was later awarded an MBE in the 1939 Birthday Honours and a CBE in the 1951 Birthday Honours.
Young Kotelawala attended Royal College, Colombo, representing the school in cricket, tennis, boxing and football. He played in the Royal–Thomian. He had to leave owing to involvements in the riots in 1915, embarking on a tour of Europe, with World War I raging. He remained in Europe for five years, spending most of that time in England and France, and attended Christ's College, Cambridge to study agriculture. Kotelawala was known as an aggressive and outspoken man who loved sports, horseback riding and cricket and, particularly as a young man, got into physical fights when he was insulted. He was fluent in Sinhala, English and French. After returning to Ceylon, he became a planter, running his family plantation estates and mines, which included the Kahatagaha Graphite Mine in Dodangaslanda. He served as a Justice of the Peace.
In a time when serving in the volunteer forces was prestigious and a gentlemanly pursuit, Kotelawala gained a commission as a second lieutenant in the Ceylon Light Infantry on 15 September 1922. That year the regiment received colours from the Prince of Wales. He progressed with promotions to lieutenant on 27 October 1924, captain on 23 August 1929 and major on 1 October 1933. On 1 July 1939, he was appointed second in command of the Ceylon Light Infantry and served till 1 September 1940. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on 1 October 1940 and was posted to the reserve of the regiment.
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John Kotelawala
General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala CH KBE KStJ PC (Sinhala: ශ්රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from 1953 to 1956.
Born to a wealthy landholding and mining family, Kotelawala had a difficult childhood with the suicide of his father and the financial difficulties that followed. He was educated at Royal College, Colombo, and Christ's College, Cambridge, before returning to become a planter and run the family estates and mines. Kotelawala joined the Ceylon Defense Force as a volunteer officer in 1922. Being from a politically active family, he entered mainstream politics in 1931 having been elected to the State Council of Ceylon. He went on to serve as Minister of Communications and Works in the Second Board of Ministers of Ceylon. Having served as the commanding officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry, he transferred to the reserve with the rank of colonel in 1942.
With Ceylon gaining independence in 1948, he was elected to Parliament and became a member of the first Cabinet as Minister of Transport and Works. He was overlooked for the post of prime minister when his uncle, the first prime minister of Ceylon, D. S. Senanayake, died suddenly. A year later he succeeded his cousin, Dudley Senanayake, as the third Prime Minister of Ceylon, serving until his party lost the general election in 1956. Kotelawala retired from politics thereafter, going to self-imposed exile in Kent. Having donated his home, Kandawala, to the state to form a defense university, he was granted the rank of general on his deathbed.
Kotelawala was born on 4 April 1897 to John Kotelawala Snr, a police inspector, who later turned businessman and Alice Elisabeth Kotelawala (née Attygalle), daughter of Mudaliyar Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle, a wealthy land and mine owner. He had a younger brother Justin Kotelawala and a sister Freda, who later married C. V. S. Corea.
The Kotelawalas lived in considerable comfort owing to the considerable land and mine holdings of his grandfather Mudaliyar Attygalle, which his father managed following the death of his grandfather. After he was forced out of the management of the Attygalle estates by the family, Kotelawala Snr started his own business ventures including the Ceylon-Japan Trading Company. In 1907, he was arrested and found guilty of conspiring to murder his brother-in-law, Francis Attygalle. While the murder trial was underway, Kotelawala Snr committed suicide by poisoning himself.
Kotelawala was eleven years old when his father died and with this, the family fortunes declined after much funds were spent in the legal defence of his father. Alice Kotelawala who had converted to Christianity slowly built up the family wealth through careful management of their remaining land holdings and the share of the Kahatagaha graphite mine, which she received from her younger sister Ellen and brother-in-law, Fredrick Richard Senanayake. She was reputed for her social work and was later awarded an MBE in the 1939 Birthday Honours and a CBE in the 1951 Birthday Honours.
Young Kotelawala attended Royal College, Colombo, representing the school in cricket, tennis, boxing and football. He played in the Royal–Thomian. He had to leave owing to involvements in the riots in 1915, embarking on a tour of Europe, with World War I raging. He remained in Europe for five years, spending most of that time in England and France, and attended Christ's College, Cambridge to study agriculture. Kotelawala was known as an aggressive and outspoken man who loved sports, horseback riding and cricket and, particularly as a young man, got into physical fights when he was insulted. He was fluent in Sinhala, English and French. After returning to Ceylon, he became a planter, running his family plantation estates and mines, which included the Kahatagaha Graphite Mine in Dodangaslanda. He served as a Justice of the Peace.
In a time when serving in the volunteer forces was prestigious and a gentlemanly pursuit, Kotelawala gained a commission as a second lieutenant in the Ceylon Light Infantry on 15 September 1922. That year the regiment received colours from the Prince of Wales. He progressed with promotions to lieutenant on 27 October 1924, captain on 23 August 1929 and major on 1 October 1933. On 1 July 1939, he was appointed second in command of the Ceylon Light Infantry and served till 1 September 1940. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on 1 October 1940 and was posted to the reserve of the regiment.