Noel Wimalasena

Deshamanya
Noel Wimalasena
1st Governor of Sabaragamuwa
In office
30 April 1988 – 1993
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byC. N. Saliya Mathew
14th Mayor of Kandy
In office
1963–1963
Preceded bySir Bennet Soysa
Succeeded byEdward Lionel Senanayake
Member of Parliament
for Senkadagala
In office
1965–1977
Preceded byShelton Ranaraja
Succeeded byShelton Ranaraja
In office
March 1960 – July 1960
Succeeded byShelton Ranaraja
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office
1977–1981
Personal details
Born
Nanediri Wimalasena

(1914-03-23)23 March 1914
Kandy, Sri Lanka
Died5 May 1994(1994-05-05) (aged 80)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Political partyUNP
SpousePrema Wijesekera née Fernando
ChildrenMangala, Vajira, Sanjani
Alma mater
Occupationlawyer, politician, diplomat

Deshamanya Noel Wimalasena (23 March 1914 – 5 May 1994) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician and the first Governor of Sabaragamuwa.

Early life and education

Nanediri Wimalasena was born on 23 March 1914[1] in Kandy, Sri Lanka. He attended Ananda College, Colombo, the Ceylon University College and the Ceylon Law College.

Political career

In 1946 Wimalasena was elected to the Kandy Municipal Council, serving as Deputy Mayor in 1946 and as Mayor in 1963.

In March 1960 he ran as the UNP candidate for parliament in the Senkadagala Electoral District. He was successful, securing over 48% of the vote.[2] However, as neither of the major political parties managed to obtain a sufficient majority in the election a new election was called. At the July 1960 election Wimalasena lost by a narrow margin of 25 votes to the SLFP candidate, Shelton Ranaraja.[3]

At the 1965 parliamentary elections, Wimalasena won the seat of Senkadagala, defeating the sitting member, Ranaraja. Wimalasena served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance between 1965 and 1970 in the Third Dudley Senanayake cabinet and between 1966 and 1970 was the Governor of the Asian Development Bank (Sri Lanka). He retained the seat in the subsequent 1970 election with over 50% of the vote[4] however chose not to run in the 1977 election.

In December 1977 he was appointed as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, serving until January 1981. Upon his return to Sri Lanka he was the Deputy Director-General for the Greater Colombo Economics Commission.

On 30 April 1988 he was appointed as the first Governor of Sabaragamuwa, serving until 1993, when he was succeeded by C. N. Saliya Mathew,[5]

In 1993 he was awarded Deshamanya, the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Hon. Wimalasena, Nanediri, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 19 March 1960" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 20 July 1960" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ Cahoon, Ben. "Sri Lankan Provinces from 1988". World Statesmen.org. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
Political offices
Preceded by
Office created
 Governor of Sabaragamuwa
1988–1993 		Succeeded by