Early life

Sivapalan was born around 1890. He was the son of M. Subramaniam, a Secretary of the District Court in Trincomalee

Trincomalee

Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...

 in eastern British Ceylon

British Ceylon

British Ceylon refers to British rule prior to 1948 of the island territory now known as Sri Lanka.-From the Dutch to the British:Before the beginning of the Dutch governance, the island of Ceylon was divided between the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Kandy, who were in the midst of a war for...

. He was educated at the Wesleyan Mission English School, Trincomalee, St. Patrick's College, Jaffna and Wesley College, Colombo

Wesley College, Colombo

Wesley College, Colombo is a Methodist educational institution in Sri Lanka.In 1858 Rev. Joseph Rippon wanted to establish a superior educational institution for the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in South Ceylon. On March 2 1874 Wesley College, Colombo is a Methodist educational institution in Sri...

. He joined the Government Clerical Service.

Sivapalan was appointed Vanniya (chief headman) of Kaddukulam Pattu Division in 1935. Later he was appointed Vanniya of Thampalakamam Division.

Sivapalan married Bagavathy, daughter of Somasundaram. They had five sons (Sivarajah, Sundararajan, Sriskantharajah, Varatharajan and Ganeshan) and one daughter (Vimaladevi).

Political career

Sivapalan was the All Ceylon Tamil Congress

All Ceylon Tamil Congress

All Ceylon Tamil Congress , is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.-History:The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament...

's candidate for Trincomalee at the 1947 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered Parliament

Parliament of Ceylon

The Parliament of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1947 by the Soulbury Constitution, prior to independence on 4 February 1948...

. He stood for re-election at the 1952 parliamentary election but was defeated by the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was originally formed in 1949 as breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress...

candidate.