Savumiamoorthy Thondaman

The Honourable Savumiamoorthy Thondaman MP
Leader of Ceylon Workers' Congress
In office 1939–1999
Member of Parliament for Nuwara Eliya
In office 1947–1952
Member of Parliament for Stateless Persons (Appointed)
In office 1960–1970
Member of Parliament for Nuwara Eliya Maskeliya
In office 21 July 1977 – 20 December 1988
Member of Parliament for National List
In office 1989 – 30 October 1999
Personal details
Born	(1913-08-30)August 30, 1913 Muna Pudur, Madras State, India
Died	October 30, 1999(1999-10-30) (aged 86) Sri Jayewardenapura Hospital, Sri Jayewardenapura, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Ceylon Workers' Congress
Spouse	Kothai Thondaman
Relations	Arumugam Thondaman
Children	Ramanathan Thondaman
Occupation	Trade unionist

Savumiamoorthy Thondaman (August 30, 1913 – October 30, 1999) also spelled Saumyamurthy Thondaman was a Sri Lankan politician who represented the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka of which he was a member. At the time of his death, he was both the oldest and the seniormost member of the Sri Lankan Cabinet where he had served continuously for 21 years from 1978, under four Sri Lankan Presidents and the leader of the political party Ceylon Workers' Congress. He was succeeded by his grandson Arumugam Thondaman.

Biography

Early life

Thondaman was born in Muna Pudur, Tamil Nadu (then called Madras State) India, the son of Kumaravel Karuppaiah and Sithammai; father Karuppaiah was from Thondaman clan that lived in parts of Ramanathapuram District in India. He lived with his mother and three elder sisters in Munna pudur and he saw his father for the first time when he was seven. His father used to spend long spells of time in Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) for work. Thondaman's father Karuppaiah was connected to the royal family of Pudukkottai. This branch of the family, however, underwent a decline in fortunes, and it was on the verge of impoverishment when Karuppaiah migrated to Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was called by the British, to become a "Kankani", or supervisor, of tea estate workers. Through hard work and shrewd business acumen he became the owner of a prosperous tea plantation, Wavendon estate, in Ramboda in the Nuwara Eliya district.

Thondaman attended the newly established local Tamil school in Munna Pudur till 1924, when he left for Ceylon to join his father. At that time Thondaman's father Karuppaia who was initially an estate labouer rose to become an estate owner in Nuwara Eliya District where was the first Indian origin Tamil from the indenture labourer stock to own a tea estate in Ceylon. After joining his father Thondaman attended a small estate school for 3 years, later in 1927 he joined St. Andrews College of Gampola. Thondaman was at St. Andrew's for five years, from 1927 to 1932.

References

• Sabaratnam, T. (27 November 2006). "Out Of Bondage – The Thondaman Story". lankalibrary.com.

External links

• Remembering S.Thondaman by A. Kandappah