Solomon Bandaranaike

Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (1899 – September 26, 1959) was Prime Minister (1956–59) of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka).

Related Topics:
September 26 - 1959 - Prime Minister - Ceylon - Sri Lanka

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He was the husband of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, and father of Chandrika Kumaratunga, the current President of Sri Lanka and Anura Bandaranaike, current Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka.

Related Topics:
Sirimavo Bandaranaike - Chandrika Kumaratunga - Anura Bandaranaike

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A lawyer educated in England, he entered politics as a member of the United National Party and rose to hold a cabinet position.As a young lawyer he became active in the United National Party (UNP) and from 1931 to 1951 served the party in legislative and ministerial posts. In 1951, Bandaranaike led his faction, the Sinhala Maha Sabha, out of the UNP and established the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Bandaranaike had organized the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1937 in order to promote Sinhalese culture and community interests. Winning the 1956 elections at the head of a four-party coalition, he became prime minister. As such, Bandaranaike made Sinhalese, instead of English, the official language of the country 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.

Related Topics:
Lawyer - England - Politics - United National Party - Sinhala Maha Sabha - Sri Lanka Freedom Party - Sinhala - 1937 - Sinhalese - 1950s - Socialism

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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. As the champion of the Buddhist religion, the SLFP has customarily relied upon the socially and politically influential Buddhist clergy, the sangha, to carry its message to the Sinhalese villages.

Related Topics:
Tamil - Sinhala - Buddhist

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As prime minister, he took a neutralist stance in foreign affairs; domestically, he was faced by economic problems and disputes over languages.

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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 for three times.

Related Topics:
Talduwe Somarama - Buddhist - 1959

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