Alfred Thambiayah
Ceylonese Parliament for Kayts | |
---|---|
In office 1947–1956 | |
Succeeded by | V. A. Kandiah |
Personal details | |
Born | 8 November 1903 |
Died | October 1, 2009 | (aged 105)
Political party | Ceylon Tamil |
Alfred Leo Saverimuthu Thambiayah (
Early life and family
Thambiayah was born on 8 November 1903 in
Thambiayah married Rajeswari, daughter of Adigar Sellamuttu.[3] They had two sons (Shivantha and Ravi) and two daughters (Subodhini and Indumathi Renuka).[3]
Career
Thambiayah began his business career aged 21 by leasing the Olympia Cinema.[2] He then went into business with Chittampalam Abraham Gardiner, establishing the successful Ceylon Theatres Ltd.[2] Later on Ceylon Theatres bought Cargills & Millers and Thambiayah served as chairman/managing director of the latter.[2] Thambiayah acquired Cargo Boat Dispatch Company, a shipping company, in 1936 from Harry and John Cosmas.[2][3][4] The company grew to control the majority of the business out of the Port of Colombo.[4]
Thambiayah stood as an
Thambiayah was instrumental in the construction of road links to Velanaitivu from
Thambiayah was re-elected at the
Thambiayah stood for re-election in the constituency at the
Thambiayah's company suffered a set-back when the Port of Colombo was nationalised in 1958.[4] Thambiayah started diversifying his business interests, turning his company into a shipping agency house, taking shareholdings in Hatton National Bank and establishing Hotel Renuka in Kollupitiya in 1970 after the government started offering tax incentives to the hospitality sector.[2][4]
Today Thambiayah's company is known as Renuka Holdings PLC and is one of Sri Lanka's largest conglomerates.[12] Thambiayah's daughter Indumathi Renuka Rajiyah is the company's chairperson and his grandson Shamindra Vatsalan Rajiyah is the executive director.[12][13]
He died prior to October 2009, aged no older than 105.[14]
References
- ^ "Directory of Past Members: Thambiayah, Alfred Leo". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Chandrasekera, Duruthu Edirimuni (7 July 2013). "Alfred Leo Thambiayah: Trailblazer in entrepreneurship". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
- ^ a b c d e Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. pp. 220–221.
- ^ a b c d "Origins". Renuka Holdings PLC.
- ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2009.
- ^ "Kulasingam V Thambiayah". LawNet. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ "Thambiayah V Kulasingham". LawNet. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2009.
- ^ a b Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 15: Turbulence in any language". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 8 February 2002.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2009.
- ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2009.
- ^ a b Chandrasekera, Duruthu Edirimuni (2 December 2012). "Renuka Group – Leaving a lasting legacy". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
- ^ "Reuka Holdings PLC: Annual Report 2012" (PDF). Colombo Stock Exchange. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ "Obituaries". The Island (Sri Lanka). 17 October 2009.