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Don Senanayake

The Right Honourable
D. S. Senanayake
MP, PC
Official Photographic Portrait of Don Stephen Senanayaka (1884-1952).jpg
D. S. Senanayake
Prime Minister of Ceylon
In office
24 September 1947 – 22 March 1952
Monarch George VI
Elizabeth II
Preceded by Post created
Succeeded by Dudley Senanayake
Leader of the House
In office
2 December 1942 – 4 July 1947
Preceded by Don Baron Jayatilaka
Succeeded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Minister of Agriculture and Lands
In office
1942–1947
Preceded by Post created
Succeeded by Dudley Senanayake
Member of the Ceylon Parliament
for Mirigama
In office
14 October 1947 – 22 March 1952
Preceded by Constituency Created
Succeeded by John Edmund Amaratunga
Personal details
Born (1883-10-21)21 October 1883
Botale, Mirigama, British Ceylon
Died 22 March 1952(1952-03-22) (aged 68)
Colombo, Dominion of Ceylon
Nationality Ceylonese
Political party United National Party
Spouse(s) Molly Dunuwila
Religion Buddhist

Don Stephen Senanayake, PC (Sinhalese: දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක; 21 October 1883 – 22 March 1952) was the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. He emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment of self-rule in Sri Lanka. He served as Prime Minister from the formation of an independent nation in 1948 until he died in office in 1952. He is considered as the "Father of the Nation".

He was born in the village of Botale. He was the son of Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake (1847–1907) and Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake (1852–1949). He had two brothers, Don Charles "D. C." Senanayake and Fredric Richard "F. R." Senanayake; and one sister, Maria Frances Senanayake.

Brought up in a devout Buddhist family, he entered the prestigious Anglican school S. Thomas' College, Mutwal.

After completing schooling, he worked as a clerk in the Surveyor General's Department, but left to work as a planter on his father's rubber plantation.

The three Senanayake brothers were involved in the temperance movement formed in 1912. When World War I broke out in 1914 they joined the Colombo Town Guard. The brothers were imprisoned without charges during the 1915 riots and faced the prospect of execution since the British Governor Sir Robert Chalmers considered the temperance movement as seditious. Brutal suppression of the riots by the British initiated the modern independence movement led by the educated middle class. Don Stephen and Don Charles were prominent members of the political party Lanka Mahajana Sabha. Fredrick Richard and Don Charles were committed supporters of the Young Men's Buddhist Association. D. S. Senanayake played an active role in the independence movement, initially in support of his brother Fredrick Richard.


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