{{Short description|Sri Lankan lawyer, statesmen and diplomat (1899–1981)}} {{more citations needed|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable|Hon.]] | name = Sir Senerat Gunewardene | honorific_suffix = | image = Senerat Gunewardene.jpg | image_size = 220px | order1 = [[Minister without Portfolio]] | term_start1 = 26 September 1947 | term_end1 = May 1948 | predecessor1 = ''Post created'' | successor1 = [[A. Ekanayake Gunasinha|A. E. Gunasinha]] | constituency_MP2 = [[Gampola Electoral District|Gampola]] | parliament2 = Ceylon | majority2 = | term_start2 = 1947 | term_end2 = 1948 | predecessor2 = ''Seat created'' | successor2 = [[R. S. Pelpola]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1899|09|03|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Matara District|Matara]], [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1981|08|10|1899|11|03|df=y}} | death_place = | party = | occupation = [[Politics]], [[Diplomat]] | other_party = | spouse = Sumana Pemi Gunewardene | parents = Don Bentis Serasinghe Gunewardene (father) | relations = | children = 3 | alma_mater = [[St.Thomas' College, Matara]] [[S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]] | profession = [[Advocate]] | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Sir Senerat Gunewardene''' (also known as '''Ratnakirti Senerat Serasinghe Gunewardene''' or '''R.S.S. Gunewardene''') (3 November 1899 – 10 August 1981) was a [[Sri Lanka]]n lawyer, statesmen and diplomat. He was the first [[Minister without portfolio|Minister without Portfolio]], [[Member of Parliament (Sri Lanka)|member of parliament]] and [[State Council of Ceylon|member of the State Council]] for [[Gampola Electoral District|Gampola]], before serving in several top diplomatic posts such as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy, [[List of ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States|Ceylon's Ambassador to the United States]], where he was appointed concurrently as [[Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations|Ceylon's first Permanent Representative]] to [[United Nations]] and [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom|Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/081214/FunDay/fundaytimes_2.html|title=Our Heritage|website=sundaytimes.lk}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Born on 3 November 1899 in Nupe, [[Matara District|Matara]] as Samson Gunewardene, he later changed his name to Ratnakirthi Senerath Serasinghe Gunewardene and was known as R. S. S. Gunewardene. His father Don Bentis Serasinghe Gunewardene was an [[Sri Lankan traditional medicine|ayurvedic practitioner]], he was the eldest in a family of three brothers and one sister. Both his brothers became lawyers and one went on to become a [[District Courts of Sri Lanka|District Judge]]. Educated at [[St. Thomas' College, Matara]] and at [[S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]], where he was a good friend of [[S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike]].
== Teaching career == He had to leave school before completing his schooling due to the death of his father. Returning to Matara, in order to support himself and his family, he became a teacher at [[St. Thomas' College, Matara]] at the age of 16. He thereafter earned a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from the [[University of London]] as an [[University of London International Programmes|external student]] and joined the teaching staff of [[Royal College Colombo]]. Thereafter, he served as principal of [[Sri Sumangala College, Panadura]] from 1921 to 1922.
== Legal career == He started following the advocate's course at the [[Ceylon Law College]] and passed his advocate's finals in 1926. He was [[Called to the bar|admitted to the bar]] as an [[Advocate]] in 1927. After qualifying as an advocate, Gunewardene gave up teaching and developed a successful [[legal practice]] in [[criminal defense]] and [[civil rights]] in the [[unofficial bar]] in Colombo. He was also a founder member and President of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress and was a member of the first board of management of the Colombo Young men's Buddhist Association.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chapter 399, Colombo Youngmen's Buddhist Association |url=http://www.commonlii.org/lk/legis/consol_act/cymba399449.pdf |access-date=20 October 2020}}</ref>
== Political career == Joining the colonial era politics in Ceylon with the establishment of the [[Ceylon National Congress]], in which Gunewardene served as Joint Secretary from 1926 to 1932 jointly with S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and thereafter served as Vice President. During this time he campaigned for [[universal suffrage]]. In 1931, he intended to contest the [[1931 Ceylonese State Council election|first State Council election]] from Dhadagamuwa, but dropped out after contracting [[malaria]]. He then contested the [[Gampola Electoral District|Gampola]] seat just two weeks prior to and lost to [[T. B. Panabokke]]. In 1936 he was elected to the [[State Council of Ceylon]] from Gampola and was a member of the Executive Committee of Local Administration, which was chaired by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who was the Minister of Local Administration. In November 1936, he served as acting Minister of Local Administration. He was elected to the [[1st Parliament of Ceylon|first parliament]] in the [[1947 Ceylonese parliamentary election|1947 general election]] from Gampola. Gunewardene was appointed by [[D. S. Senanayake]] as [[Minister without portfolio|Minister without Portfolio]] in his [[D. S. Senanayake cabinet|cabinet]] and [[Government whip|chief government whip]] in parliament. However, he was unseated in parliament in May 1948 in an election petition and was succeeded by [[A. Ekanayake Gunasinha|A. E. Gunasinha]] as Minister and government whip. He contested the by-election that followed in Gampola and lost to [[R. S. Pelpola]] from the [[United National Party]].<ref name="ref2">{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/061105/FunDay/heritage.html|title=Our Heritage 061022|website=sundaytimes.lk}}</ref>
== Diplomatic career == In 1949, he was appointed as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy where he served until 1954. He was then appointed [[List of ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States|Ceylon's Ambassador to the United States]], serving from March 1954 to August 1961. When Ceylon became a member of the [[United Nations]] in 1955, Gunewardene was appointed concurrently as the first [[Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations|Permanent Representative to United Nations]], serving until 1958. In October 1961, he was appointed [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom|Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom]] serving till June 1963, when he was reappointed as Permanent Representative to United Nations, serving until 1965. During his time in Washington DC, he established the Buddhist Centre in Washington.<ref name="ref2"/> == Honors == For his service to the government of Ceylon, he was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[1956 New Year Honours]], the last to receive [[Ceylonese recipients of British titles|British honors]] before S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike suspend honors in 1956.<ref>{{cite web |title=FOURTH SUPPLEMENT TO The London Gazette OF FRIDAY, 3oth DECEMBER, 1955 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40672/supplement/47 |website=thegazette.co.uk |access-date=20 October 2020}}</ref> In 1963, he was awarded a [[Doctor of Law]]s ([[honoris causa]]) from the [[University of Ceylon]].
==Family== He married his wife Sumana Pemi Gunewardene, a close relative on 10 June 1927, they had three children.
== See also == *[[Sri Lankan Non Career Diplomats]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/photo/photoByReportage.cfm?ref=009382&sitelang=en Presentation of the credentials of the Head of the Mission of Ceylon to Walter Hallstein, President of the Commission of the EEC]
{{Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon}} {{Members of 1st Parliament of Ceylon}} {{Presidents of the United Nations Human Rights Council}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunewardene, Senerat}} [[Category:1899 births]] [[Category:1981 deaths]] [[Category:Ceylonese advocates]] [[Category:Sinhalese people]] [[Category:20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers]] [[Category:Cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka]] [[Category:Sri Lankan Buddhists]] [[Category:Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon]] [[Category:Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon]] [[Category:High commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the United States]] [[Category:Permanent representatives of Sri Lanka to the United Nations]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Italy]] [[Category:Ceylonese Knights Bachelor]] [[Category:Alumni of Ceylon Law College]] [[Category:Alumni of University of London Worldwide]] [[Category:Alumni of St. Thomas' College, Matara]] [[Category:Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia]] [[Category:Faculty of Royal College, Colombo]]