Raja Hewavitarne

Rajasinghe (Raja) Hewavitarne CBE JP (1 November 1898 – 1959) was a Ceylonese businessman and politician.[1]

Rajah Hewavitarne was born on 1 November 1898 in Colombo, the eldest son of Edmund Hewavitarne and Sujatha née Peiris, and the grandson of Don Carolis Hewavitharana.[2]

During the 1915 riots, when Hewavitarne was seventeen his father was arrested and court marshaled for treason. His father died five months later in Jaffna prison.

Hewavitarne was educated at Dulwich College, London and Coventry Technical College,[3] which included training at the Humber motor vehicle plant in Coventry. He returned to Ceylon and took a position as a partner and engineer at the family company, H. Don Carolis and Sons.[4]

On the 30 October 1931 he married Rajakurna, with whom he had two children.[3]

At the State Council elections in 1936 Hewavitarne contested the seat of Matara. On 27 February 1936 he was elected as a Member of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon,[5] where he served on the Executive Committee for Labour, Industry and Commerce.[6] His younger brother, Neil, was also elected to the State Council, representing Udugama.[7]

In the 1949 New Year Honours Hewavitarne was awarded the Order of the British Empire[8] and in the 1952 Queens Birthday Honours was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division).[9]

In 1956 he was appointed as Ceylon's Envoy to Burma (Myanmar).[10]

References
  1. "Hon. Hewavitarane, Rajah, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  2. "A life of loving and giving - The 80th Death Anniversary of Mallika Hewavitarne". The Sunday Times. 24 July 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  3. World Biography. 5. Institute for Research in Biography. 1954. p. 521.
  4. MacMillan, Allister, ed. (2005). Extract from Seaports of India and Ceylon. Asian Educational Services. p. 473. ISBN 9788120619951.
  5. Jātika Rājya Sabhāva. Pustakālaya (1972). Members of the Legislatures of Ceylon: 1931-1972. National State Assembly Library. p. 64.
  6. Ferguson's Ceylon Directory. The Ceylon Observer Press. 1946. p. 44.
  7. Jātika Rājya Sabhāva. Pustakālaya (1972). Members of the Legislatures of Ceylon: 1931-1972. National State Assembly Library. p. 63.
  8. Ceylon: "No. 38496". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1948. pp. 39–40.
  9. "No. 39558". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 May 1952. pp. 3053–3054.
  10. "Ceylon Today". 5. Ceylon Government Information Department. 1956: 247. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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