Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, CMG,KC (Tamil: பொன்ன அம்பலம் இராமநாதன், romanized: Poṉṉa ampalam Irāmanātaṉ; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 1930) was a Ceylon lawyer and politician who served as Solicitor-General of Ceylon.
Ramanathan married Sellachchi Ammal, daughter of Mudaliyar E. Nannithamby, in 1874 at Ward Place, Colombo.[7] They had three sons (Mahesan, Rajendra and Vamadeven) and three daughters (Sivakolunthu, Rukmini).[8] After being widowed Ramanathan married Australian R. L. Harrison (later known as Leelawathy).[9] They had a daughter, Sivagamisundhari.[10]
Career
Returning to Ceylon, with the help of his maternal uncle Muthu Coomaraswamy Ramanathan became a law apprentice under Richard Morgan, Queen's Advocate of Ceylon.[11] Ramanathan became an advocate of the Colombo bar in 1874.[1][a] He was responsible for editing law reports for the previous 36 years and later served as editor of the official law reports (the Supreme Court Circular and the New Law Reports) for ten years.[1][13] Ramanathan stopped practising law in 1886 to concentrate on politics and his interest religious studies and philosophy.[14]
Ramanathan was appointed to the Legislative Council of Ceylon in 1879 as the unofficial member representing Tamils, replacing his maternal uncle Muthu Coomaraswamy.[1][15][16] In 1880 he founded the Ceylon National Association, of which he was president, to campaign for constitutional reform[17] Whilst on a tour of Europe Ramanathan, his wife, and his daughter were presented to Queen Victoria, and he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1886.[1][18][19][20]Allan Bennett served as a tutor to the younger sons of the yogi and Ramanathan went on to be Bennett's teacher in yogic practices.[21] Ramanathan wrote a book during this period, published under his Shaivite holy name of Sri Parananda and titled An Eastern Exposition of the Gospel of Jesus according to St. John (1902), in which he argued that the teachings of Christ could be understood as instructions in yoga. He was appointed Solicitor-General of Ceylon in 1892.[1][22][23] In 1903 he became one of the first Ceylonese to be appointed King's Counsel.[1][18][24] In 1905, prior to his retirement in 1906, he went on a tour of the US, where he gave lectures on Hinduism and Hindu philosophy.[1][25][26]
Ramanathan founded the National Reform Association in 1907.[27] He contested the 1911 legislative council election as a candidate for the Educated Ceylonese seat and was elected to the Legislative Council, defeating physician Marcus Fernando.[1][28][29][30] Ramanathan was responsible for the release of the Sinhalese leaders who had been arrested following the 1915 Ceylonese riots, travelling to the UK to make their case.[1][31][32] He was re-elected at the 1916 legislative council election, defeating Justus Sextus Wijesinghe Jayewardene.[1][32][33]
Ramanathan was appointed as an unofficial member of the Legislative Council in 1921.[1][31][34] He contested the 1924 legislative council election as a candidate for the Northern Province North (Valikamam North) seat and was re-elected to the Legislative Council.[1][31][35]
Ramanathan died on 26 November 1930 at his home Sukhastan on Ward Place, Colombo.[1][50][51][c] Future Prime MinisterD. S. Senanayake described Ramanathan as "the greatest Ceylonese of all times".[53]
^Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 2: Beginning of British Rule". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 27 August 2001.((cite book)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ abRajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 3: Muslim riots and communal rumblings". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 25 October 2001.((cite book)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 5: Political polarization on communal lines". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 25 October 2001.((cite book)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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