Tikiri Banda Subasinghe

Subasinghe Mudiyanselage Tikiri Banda Subasinghe (14 August 1913 – 10 August 1995) was a Sri Lankan statesman. He was the 7th Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Soviet Union[1][2] He also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs and Minister of Industries and Scientific Affairs.[3]

Tikiri Banda Subasinghe
Minister of Industries and Scientific Affairs
In office
May 1970 – 1 March 1977
Prime MinisterSirimavo Bandaranaike
Preceded byPhilip Gunawardena
Succeeded byCyril Mathew
2nd Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Soviet Union
In office
1961–1965
Prime MinisterSirimavo Bandaranaike
Preceded byGunapala Piyasena Malalasekera
Succeeded byB. F. Perera
7th Speaker of the Parliament
In office
30 March 1960 – 23 April 1960
Prime MinisterDudley Senanayake
Preceded byHameed Hussain Sheikh Ismail
Succeeded byR. S. Pelpola
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence and External Affairs
In office
1956–1959
Prime MinisterS. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Preceded byV Nalliah
Succeeded byFelix R D Bandaranaike
Member of the Ceylonese Parliament
for Bingiriya
In office
1947 – July 1960
Succeeded byLeelananda Weerasinghe
Member of the Ceylonese Parliament
for Katugampola
In office
1965–1977
Preceded byLeelananda Weerasinghe
Succeeded byGamini Jayawickrama Perera
Personal details
Born14 August 1913
British Ceylon
Died10 August 1995
Political partySri Lanka Freedom Party (1965–1977)
Other political
affiliations
Lanka Sama Samaja Party (–1955)
Independent Socialist Party (1955-1959)
United National Party (1959)
Independent (1960-1965)
SpouseLolita
ChildrenSwineetha, Sarojini
Residence(s)Kirula Road, Narahenpita
Alma materAnanda College[citation needed]

Life

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While studying at the London School of Economics, Subasinghe attended the 5th Pan-African Congress, held in Manchester in October 1945,[4] and helped to organize the All-Colonial Peoples' Conferences held in London around the same time.[5] A founding member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), Subasinghe entered parliament contesting the Bingiriya seat at the 1947 Parliamentary general elections.

With the 1956 general elections, he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of External Affairs and Defence in the S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike cabinet.[1][3] In 1960, he was unanimously elected Speaker of Parliament following the general elections in the short lived UNP led coalition government defeating veteran Speaker Sir. Albert F. Peiris both of whom represented from North Western Province.

Subasinghe was a prominent figure in the Suriya-Mal Movement which became the springboard for the Marxist and anti-imperialist movements in the country. He had two brothers (Vincent and Tudor Subasinghe) and two sisters.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "T.B. Subasinghe commemoration". Dailynews.lk. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  2. ^ Rupasinghe, Winston. "Revisiting our Russian friends". Sundayobserver.lk. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  3. ^ a b "SUBASINGHE, Tikiri Banda (1913-1995), research papers on". AIM25. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  4. ^ Christian Høgsbjerg, Remembering the Fifth Pan-African Congress, African Studies Bulletin, No 77 (Winter 2015/16), pp. 119–139.
  5. ^ Marika Sherwood, The All Colonial Peoples Conferences in Britain, 1945, African Studies Bulletin, No. 79 (Winter 2017/18), pp. 113–24.
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Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the Parliament
1960
Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Soviet Union
1961–1965
Succeeded by