Person

D. S. Senanayake

1883–1952 · 20th century · Also known as Don Stephen Senanayake

D. S. Senanayake was a Sri Lankan politician who led Ceylon to independence and served as its first prime minister from 1947 until his death in 1952. A founder of the United National Party, he promoted irrigation and peasant settlement in the dry zone. He died after a fall from his horse and was succeeded by his son Dudley.

D. S. Senanayake
Image: This image is a work of an employee of the Government of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) / Scanned Edited & Uploaded By MediaJet · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

British CeylonDominion of Ceylon

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). D. S. Senanayake. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/d-s-senanayake
MLA
“D. S. Senanayake.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/d-s-senanayake. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “D. S. Senanayake.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/d-s-senanayake.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘D. S. Senanayake’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/d-s-senanayake (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻