Vimala Wijewardene

Vimala Wijewardene (Vimala; née Silva; 1908 – 1985)[1] was a Ceylonese politician[2] and the country's first female cabinet minister.

Hon.

Vimala Wijewardene
Minister of Health
In office
12 April 1956 – June 1959
Prime MinisterS. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Preceded byE. A. Nugawela
Succeeded byA. P. Jayasuriya
Minister for Local Government and Housing
In office
9 June 1956 – 21 November 1959
Prime MinisterS. W. R. D. Bandaranaike/Wijeyananda Dahanayake
Preceded byJayaweera Kuruppu
Succeeded byM. B. W. Mediwake
Member of the Ceylon Parliament
for Mirigama
In office
1956–1960
Preceded byJohn Amaratunga
Succeeded byA. A. E. Jayasinghe
Personal details
Born1908
Died1994
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partySri Lanka Freedom Party
Spouse(s)Don Charles Wijewardene
ChildrenPadmini, Rukmani, Ananda
ResidenceSedavatta, Grandpass
Adisham Hall
Occupationpolitician

Marriage and family

Following the death of her older sister, Vimala (at the age of sixteen) married her sister's widower, Don Charles Wijewardene (1893-1956), the fifth son of Don Philip Tudugala Wijewardene, a timber merchant of Sedavatta, and Helena Dep (née Weerasinghe) and younger brother of newspaper magnate Don Richard. They had three children, Ananda, Padmini and Rukmani.

Don Charles, a polemicist espousing the Buddhist nationalist movement, was the author of The Revolt in the Temple (published in 1953). His mother, Helena, was responsible for arranging the financing of the restoration of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara. Don Charles and his brother Don Walter had a strong involvement in the Kelaniya Temple and Buddhist affairs. He was also the patron of Mapitigama Buddharakkitha, as a young monk supporting his promotion to chief monk of the Kelaniya Temple.

Political career

In 1952 she contested the seat of Kelaniya at the 2nd parliamentary election, representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, against the United National Party incumbent (and her nephew), J. R. Jayewardene, losing by 6,235 votes.[3] At the 3rd parliamentary elections in 1956, she ran in Mirigama electorate and was elected, receiving 36,193 votes (75.25% of the total vote) defeating the sitting member, John Amaratunga.[4] In June 1956 she was appointed as Minister of Health in the S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike cabinet,[5][6] the country's first female cabinet minister. In June 1959 she was appointed as the Minister for Local Government and Housing a position she retained in the subsequent Dahanayake cabinet.

On 21 November 1959 she was arrested by the police in connection with the assassination of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, which led to her dismissal as Ceylon's Minister of Local Government. The charges against her were subsequently dropped on 15 July 1960. The incident effectively ended her political career and in her later life she turned to religion participating in Christian revival meetings.

See also

References
  1. "Helena Wijewardene: The Matriarch Of An Illustrious Family". exploresrilanka.lk. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  2. "Hon. Wijewardene, Vimala, M.P." Directory of Past Members. Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  3. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  4. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  5. Ceylon Year Book 1956 (PDF). Department of Census and Statistics, Ceylon. pp. 10–11.
  6. Ceylon Year Book 1959 (PDF). Department of Census and Statistics, Ceylon. pp. 9–10.
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