M. Balasundaram

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Hon.
M. Balasundaram
MP
மு. பாலசுந்தரம்
Member of the Ceylonese Parliament
for Kopay
In office
1960–1965
Preceded byC. Vanniasingam
Succeeded byS. Kathiravelupillai
Personal details
Born(1903-04-07)7 April 1903
Died15 December 1965(1965-12-15) (aged 62)
Alma materCeylon University College
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
ProfessionLawyer
EthnicityCeylon Tamil

Murugesu Balasundaram (Tamil: முருகேசு பாலசுந்தரம்; 7 April 1903 – 15 December 1965) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.

Early life and family[edit]

Balasundaram was born on 7 April 1903.[1] He was the son of Reverend K. S. Murugesu, a Methodist clergyman.[1] He was educated at Kilner College, Jaffna and Royal College, Colombo.[1] After school Balasundaram joined the Ceylon University College, graduating in 1923 with a B.Sc. degree.[1][2] He received a scholarship to study at Trinity Hall, Cambridge from where he graduated with a B.A. degree.[1]

Balasundaram married Sinnammah, daughter of Sinnathamby.[1] They had four sons (Gnanasanmugan, Yogasundaram, Balakrishnan and Sivanandasundaram) and two daughters (Somasundaravalli and Yogeswari).[1]

Career[edit]

After returning to Ceylon Balasundaram worked as journalist for a brief period before joining the legal profession as an advocate.[1]

Balasundaram was one of the founding members of the Jaffna Youth Congress in 1924.[3] He stood as the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi's (Federal Party) candidate in Kopay at the March 1960 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered Parliament.[4] He was re-elected at the July 1960 parliamentary election.[5] He stood as an independent candidate in Kopay at 1965 parliamentary election but was defeated by the ITAK candidate S. Kathiravelupillai.[6]

Balasundaram died on 15 December 1965.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 23.
  2. ^ Ceylon University College Prospectus 1936-37. Ceylon University College. 1936. p. 50.
  3. ^ "The courage and nationalism of the youth of a bygone era". The Island (Sri Lanka). 10 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2015.
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