John Kotelawala

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General The Right Honourable Sir John Lionel Kotelawala CH KBE KStJ
Col. Sir John Kotelawala, c. 1951
3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon
In office 12 October 1953 – 12 April 1956
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	The 1st Viscount Soulbury Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke
Preceded by	Dudley Senanayake
Succeeded by	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Minister of Defence and External Affairs
In office 12 October 1953 – 12 April 1956
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Dudley Senanayake
Succeeded by	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Minister of Transport and Works
In office 26 September 1947 – 1954
Prime Minister	D. S. Senanayake Dudley Senanayake Himself
Succeeded by	Montague Jayawickrama
Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Dodangaslanda
In office 14 October 1947 – 5 December 1959
Succeeded by	A.U. Romanis
Personal details
Born	(1897-04-04)4 April 1897 British Ceylon
Died	2 October 1980(1980-10-02) (aged 83) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Political party	United National Party
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge, Royal College, Colombo
Profession	Politician, Soldier, Planter
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Ceylon
Branch/service	Ceylon Defence Force  Sri Lanka Army
Rank	General (Sri Lanka Army), Colonel (Ceylon Defence Force)
Unit	Ceylon Light Infantry
Commands	1st Battalion, Ceylon Light Infantry

General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala^[1] CH KBE KStJ PC (Sinhala: ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from 1953 to 1956.

Born to a wealthy landholding and mining family, Kotelawala had a difficult childhood with the suicide of his father and the financial difficulties that followed. He was educated at Royal College, Colombo, and Christ's College, Cambridge, before returning to become a planter and run the family estates and mines. Kotelawala joined the Ceylon Defense Force as an volunteer officer in 1922. Being from a politically active family, he entered mainstream politics in 1931 having been elected to the State Council of Ceylon. He went on to serve as Minister of Communications and Works in the Second Board of Ministers of Ceylon. Having served as the commanding officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry, he transferred to the reserve with the rank of colonel in 1942.

With Ceylon gaining independence in 1948, he was elected to Parliament and became a member of the first Cabinet as Minister of Transport and Works. He was overlooked for the post of prime minister when his uncle, the first prime minister of Ceylon, D. S. Senanayake, died suddenly. A year later he succeeded his cousin, Dudley Senanayake, as the third Prime Minister of Ceylon, serving until his party lost the general election in 1956. Kotelawala retired from politics thereafter, going to self-imposed exile in Kent. Having donated his home, Kandawala, to the state to form a defense university, he was granted the rank of general on his deathbed.