Don Stephen Senanayake

First prime minister of Sri Lanka (1947–52), born in Colombo, W Sri Lanka. He studied in Colombo, then worked on his father's rubber estate. Entering the Legislative Council in 1922, he founded the co-operative society movement in 1923, and was elected to the State Council in 1931, where he was minister of agriculture for 15 years. Following independence, he became prime minister, as well as minister of defence and external affairs.

Don Stephen Senanayake (October 20, 1884–22 March 1952) was an independence activist who formed the Sri Lankan United National Party. He became the first Prime Minister of what was then Ceylon (later called Sri Lanka) from 1947 to 1952.

Brought up in a devout Buddhist family, he entered a Christian school on his father's orders, and converted to Christianity.

He entered politics at the age of thirty-eight, and in 1931 became Minister of Agriculture and Lands. He combatted Sri Lanka's agricultural problems effectively, and established the LDO, an agricultural policy that countered Sri Lanka's rice problems. This policy earned him respect, and he continued to be a minister for fifteen years. However, he resigned in 1946 and fought for Sri Lanka's independence. In only a year he succeeded, and was elected as Sri Lanka's first Prime Minister.

His son, Dudley Shelton Senanayake (1911–1973), succeeded him as Prime Minister in 1952, followed by another relative, Sir John Kotelawala (1897–1980) in 1953, but this nine-year family dynasty was ended by a landslide victory for Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike in 1956, campaigning under the "Sinhala Only" slogan.

D.S Senanayake is respected by Sinhalese and some Muslims. His bold agricultural plans and pro-Western policies, however, attracted criticism for their modern and untraditional nature. Under his family's leadership, Sri Lanka's economy flourished, and D.S. Senanayake is still known as "The Father of Sri Lanka".