1. John Kotelawala was educated at Royal College, Colombo, and Christ's College, Cambridge, before returning to become a planter and run the family estates and mines.
38 Facts About John Kotelawala
1. 2.
John Kotelawala joined the Ceylon Defense Force as a volunteer officer in 1922.
3.
John Kotelawala went on to serve as Minister of Communications and Works in the Second Board of Ministers of Ceylon.
4.
John Kotelawala retired from politics thereafter, going to self-imposed exile in Kent.
5.
John Kotelawala was eleven years old when his father died and with this, the family fortunes declined after much funds were spent in the legal defence of his father.
6.
Alice John Kotelawala who had converted to Christianity slowly built up the family wealth through careful management of their remaining land holdings and the share of the Kahatagaha graphite mine, which she received from her younger sister Ellen and brother-in-law, Fredrick Richard Senanayake.
7.
John Kotelawala was reputed for her social work and was later awarded an MBE in the 1939 Birthday Honours and a CBE in the 1951 Birthday Honours.
8.
Young John Kotelawala attended Royal College, Colombo, representing the school in cricket, tennis, boxing and football.
9.
John Kotelawala had to leave owing to involvements in the riots in 1915, embarking on a tour of Europe, with World War I raging.
10.
John Kotelawala remained in Europe for five years, spending most of that time in England and France, and attended Christ's College, Cambridge to study agriculture.
11.
John Kotelawala was known as an aggressive and outspoken man who loved sports, horseback riding and cricket and, particularly as a young man, got into physical fights when he was insulted.
12.
John Kotelawala progressed with promotions to lieutenant on 27 October 1924, captain on 23 August 1929 and major on 1 October 1933.
13.
John Kotelawala was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on 1 October 1940 and was posted to the reserve of the regiment.
14.
John Kotelawala provided his home, Kandawala to function as the officers mess for the wartime RAF station at Rathmalana.
15.
John Kotelawala was promoted to honorary rank of colonel on 2 July 1942, the highest rank that a Ceylonese could achieve at the time in the Ceylon Defence Force.
16.
Captain John Kotelawala contested the Kurunegala seat in the 1931 election for the State Council of Ceylon.
17.
John Kotelawala gained 17159 votes, a majority of 9045 over his opponent from the Ceylon National Congress.
18.
John Kotelawala was re-elected unopposed in the 1936 state council election from Kurunegala and was elected as Minister of Communications and Works, the chair Communications and Works Committee in the Second Board of Ministers of Ceylon.
19.
John Kotelawala was an important member of the UNP and was appointed by Senanayake as Minister of Transport and Works, retaining the portfolio of public works which he had held on the second board of ministers.
20.
When Senanayake suddenly died on 22 March 1952, John Kotelawala expected to succeed him as prime minister, given he was the leader of the house and the most senior member of the UNP.
21.
An angry John Kotelawala threatened resignation and a possible split in the party appeared.
22.
John Kotelawala succeeded Senanayake as prime minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of External Affairs, and as leader of the UNP.
23.
John Kotelawala formed the Ceylon Railway Engineer Corps and Post and Telegraph Signals to minimise the effects on transport and communication in the event of trade union action.
24.
John Kotelawala hosted Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in Ceylon during their Royal Commonwealth Tour in April 1954, using the occasion to request the appointment of a Ceylonese Governor-General when Lord Soulbury's tenure ended.
25.
John Kotelawala himself was appointed to the Imperial Privy Council during the visit.
26.
John Kotelawala made these remarks at a press conference but subsequently withdrew them.
27.
John Kotelawala confessed later in Parliament that he had only made these remarks because he was pressured by de Soyza.
28.
John Kotelawala's government had to deal with economic problems and ethnic tensions.
29.
John Kotelawala returned the party leadership to Dudley Senanayake and left the island.
30.
John Kotelawala bought the Brogues Wood estate at Biddenden in Kent, where he lived for several years.
31.
John Kotelawala was a strong supporter of the military and maintained close links with the army.
32.
John Kotelawala was the first Chairman of the Ceylon Light Infantry Association in 1974 and was the President of the Ceylon Ex Servicemen's Association from 1948 to his death.
33.
Six months later having reviewed the proposal and consulted his heirs, John Kotelawala agreed to donate Kandawala following his death.
34.
John Kotelawala died on 2 October 1980 at the Colombo General Hospital.
35.
John Kotelawala was known for his flamboyance and the company he kept.
36.
John Kotelawala would entertain guests at his home in Kandawala and his cottage in Nuwara Eliya.
37.
Statues of Sir John Kotelawala have been erected in many parts of the island, including one at the Old Parliament Building, Colombo.
38.
In 1993, the Sir John Kotelawala Museum was opened in Kandawala by the President.