The Death of a great commonwealth statesman.
Published in The Illustrated London News on March 29, 1952.
A wise statesman looked upon by his countrymen as “The father of the Nation”; The late MR. D.S. Senanayake, Prime minister of the dominion of Ceylon. Who died on March 22 from injuries received when he was thrown from the his horse on the previous day.
Both Ceylon and the Commonwealth have suffered a grievous loss in the death of Mr. D.S. Senanayake, Prime minister of Ceylon since that country became a dominion in 1947. Mr. Senanayake, who was sixty-eight, was thrown from his horse early on March 21, and taken unconscious to hospital. The news of his death was received on March 22, a few minutes before Sir Hugh Cairns, the brain specialist, was due to board an R.A.F. Hastings aircraft at Abingdon Aerodrome to fly to his bedside. The flight was cancelled. Educated at a Church of England College in Ceylon, Mr. Senanayake remained a devout Buddhist. As minister of Agriculture for fifteen years under the Donoughmore Constitution, which granted a modified form of self-government, he transformed the agricultural system of the country. In 1942 he was appointed leader of the state council, and subsequently organised Ceylon war effort. In 1950 he became the first Ceylonese to be appointed a member of the privy council. He came to London in January last year for the meeting of Commonwealth prime ministers. Dr. Senanayake’s sagacity , foresight, judgment and tolerance were unexcelled, and under his leadership Ceylon has been the most untroubled country in Asia.