Duenuge Disan Pedris (original) (raw)

Duenuge Disan Pedris was a Ceylonese, entrepreneur and mine owner. He was a successful graphite mine owner and trader. Making his fortune in mining and expanded into other ventures, D. D. Pedris became one of the wealthiest men in the island at the time. The execution of his only son Captain Henry Pedris by the British colonial government under martial law during the 1915 riots, initiated the movement toward independence and providing motivation and a martyr for those who pioneered the movement.