Gate Mudaliyar Alexander Edmund de Silva Wijegooneratne Samaraweera Rajapakse OBE (13 March 1866 – 20 September 1937) was a Ceylonese colonial-era politician and headman.[1]
He was born on 13 March 1866 in Negombo, the eldest son of Mudliyar John de Silva Wijegooneratne Rajapakshe, a member of the Salagama caste and Magdalene Mendis née Abeysekara.[2][3] The family owned and operated a number of cinnamon estates in the Negombo District.[4]
In 1922 he was elected as the first chairman of the Negombo Urban Council, a position he retained until 1923 and then from 1925 to 22 August 1934. In 1932 he was elected as the inaugural chair of the Association of Urban Councils of Ceylon.[5][6] Rajapakse also served on the Board of Agriculture.[6]
He was elected to the 1st State Council of Ceylon on 17 June 1931 for Negombo representing the Union Party.[7][8] He was subsequently re-elected to the 2nd State Council in 1936, with a 9,000 vote majority,[9] where he served on the Executive Committee for Agriculture and Lands. Dying in office on 20 September 1937.[10]
Rajapaske's daughter, Leila Mildred, married Alexander Nicholas De Abrew Abeysinghe, the first Mayor of the Negombo Municipal Council (1950) and the MP for Negombo (1952–56).[11]
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