Charles Batuwantudawe

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Charles de Silva Batuwantudawe (1877–1940) was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician. Born in Colombo on 28 November 1877, he was the son of Pandit Don Andries de Silva Batuwantudawe. He studied at Royal College, Colombo, and trained as a lawyer in Ceylon before traveling to England in 1897. He was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in June 1901 and returned to Ceylon soon after. In 1915, during the riots, he was arrested by the British government along with other Sinhalese leaders. Batuwantudawe later served as Minister of Local Administration in the State Council of Ceylon from 1931 to 1936. He supported trade unions and was President of the CWPA, the railway workers’ union of the Ceylon Government Railway. He died in office on 13 September 1940.