S. R. Kanaganayagam

Suppiah Ratnasingham Kanaganayagam (16 May 1904 – 15 May 1989) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer and member of the Senate of Ceylon.

Senator

S. R. Kanaganayagam
எஸ். ஆர். கனகநாயகம்
Member of the Senate of Ceylon
In office
1949–1957
Personal details
Born(1904-05-16)16 May 1904
Died15 May 1989(1989-05-15) (aged 84)
Sydney, Australia
Political partyAll Ceylon Tamil Congress
Alma materHindu English School
Victoria College, Chulipuram
Jaffna College
Ceylon University College
ProfessionLawyer
EthnicityCeylon Tamil

Early life and family

Kanaganayagam was born on 16 May 1904.[1][2] He was from Sangarathai in northern Ceylon.[1] Kanaganayagam was educated at Hindu English School, Vaddukoddai, Victoria College, Chulipuram and Jaffna College.[1] He played football for the college.[1] After school he joined Ceylon University College, graduating with an arts degree.[1] He then entered Ceylon Law College, qualifying as an advocate.[1]

Kanaganayagam married Satiammah, daughter of Selvaduari.[1] They had a daughter (Savitri Devi) and two sons (Kanag-Isvaran and Maheswaran).[1]

Career

Kanaganayagam was called to the bar on 10 April 1933.[2] He practised law at the Jaffna Bar.[1]

Kanaganayagam was a member of the Jaffna Youth Congress, Jaffna Association and Tamil Association.[1] He joined the United National Party (UNP) in 1947 and was appointed to the Senate of Ceylon in 1949.[1][2] He left the UNP because of its support for the Sinhala Only Act.[1] He joined the All Ceylon Tamil Congress and served as president of its Jaffna branch until his death.[1]

Kanaganayagam was awarded the Smith Mundt Scholarship in 1953 and studied in the USA.[2]

Kanaganayagam was a director and vice president of the Hindu Board of Education.[1]

Later life

Kanaganayagam was heavily involved with the Hindu orphanage in Thirunelveli.[1] He was a member of the senate of the University of Jaffna.[1]

The civil war caused Kanaganayagam to move from Jaffna to his birth town of Sangarathai in 1984.[1] He later moved to Australia to live with his daughter.[1][2] He died on 15 May 1989 in Sydney.[3]

gollark: Or use WINE.
gollark: D U A L B O O T I F Y O U B A D L Y N E E D S P E C I F I C S O F T W A R E
gollark: <@151391317740486657> L I N U X
gollark: My laptop only has a 1366x768 screen. It is annoying.
gollark: I think I'm in about 15. The trick is to ignore all messages on the busy ones.

References
  1. Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. pp. 67–68.
  2. Tharmarajah, K. M. (14 May 2004). "Advocate S.R. Kanaganayagam: A legal luminary well-known for sound interpretation, wit and humour". Daily News (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 19 October 2012.
  3. "Classified Ads" (PDF). Tamil Times. VIII (7): 22. June 1989. ISSN 0266-4488.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.