Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike

Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike 1899-1959, prime minister (1956-59) of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka); husband of Sirimavo Bandaranaike. A lawyer educated in England, he entered politics and rose to hold a cabinet position. He resigned, however, in 1951 to form what became the Sri Lanka Freedom party. In 1956 he organized a leftist coalition that came to power with the 1956 elections. As prime minister, he took a neutralist stance in foreign affairs; domestically, he was faced by economic problems and disputes over languages. He was assassinated by a dissident Buddhist monk.

Bandaranaike, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias (1899–1959) Ceylonese statesman, prime minister (1956–59). He made Sinhalese the official language and founded the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to unite nationalists and socialists. He was assassinated by a dissident Buddhist monk, and his wife, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, succeeded him.

Bandaranaike, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias (b. 8 Jan. 1899, d. 26 Sept. 1959). Prime Minister of Ceylon 1956–9 Born in Columbo, he was educated there and in Oxford, and became a lawyer. He became active in politics in the 1920s, and founded the Maha Sinhala Party in 1937, in a successful bid to create a power base among Sinhalese and Buddhist groups. He brought his movement into the United National Party (UNP) and was Minister of Health and Local Government (1948–51). In 1951, he left the UNP to found the Sinhalese Socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which attracted support from the political centre, as well as Sinhalese and Buddhist interest groups. He thus won the 1956 election, and was now compelled to realize his election promises to special interest groups. His fulfilment of the Buddhist demand to make Sinhalese Ceylon's official language without concessions to the Tamil minority proved fateful, as it aggravated decisively the tensions between the two communities. He was a promoter of non-alignment in foreign policy, and of socialism in domestic policies; his assassination ensured his lasting reputation in Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) politics.