his political goals, and led several satyagraha campaigns to realise the Tamils' political demands. His methods, however, failed to secure Tamils' rights in the face of opposition from Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists. His belief that the Tamils' political aspirations could be achieved through Parliamentary institutions has been criticised as naive. With his death the era of non-violent protest was replaced by violent militancy. Early life and family Chelvanayakam was born on 31 March 1898 in Ipoh, Malaya. He was the son of Visvanathan Velupillai, a businessman, and Harriet Annamma Kanapathipillai. Velupillai had been a school teacher in Tholpuram in northern Ceylon before migrating to Malaya as a contractor. Chelvanayakam had two brothers (Ernest Velupillai Ponnuthurai and Edward Rajasundaram) and a sister (Atputham Isabel). The family later moved from Ipoh to Taiping. Malaya had few schools and most of these catered for rich Malays. It was common for expatriate Ceylon Tamils to send their children to schools in Ceylon. Aged four, Chelvanayakam, his mother, his two brothers and his sister were sent to Ceylon for the children's schooling. Velupillai remained in Malaya to provide for his family. The family lived in Tellippalai, Harriet's home town, close to Harriet's siblings and their families. Harriet's brother S. K. Ponniah, a Church of England minister, became Chelvanayakam's guide and adviser. Chelvanayakam was educated at Union College, Tellippalai and St. John's College, Jaffna. After school he joined S. Thomas' College, Mutwal and obtained an external degree in science from the University of London in 1918. At St. Thomas Chelvanayakam was a contemporary of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, future Prime Minister of Ceylon. After graduation Chelvanayakam visited his father in Malaya in 1918 shortly before his death. Chelvanayakam married Emily Grace Barr-Kumarakulasinghe (Rathinam), daughter of R. R. Barr-Kumarakulasinghe, in 1927. The Barr-Kumarakulasinghes were an influential family from Tellippalai who served the Dutch and British administrations in Ceylon. R. R. Barr-Kumarakulasinghe was Maniagar (British appointed administrative chief) for the Valikamam region. The Chelvanayakams had four sons (Manoharan, Vaseekaran, Ravindran and Chandrahasan) and a daughter (Susila). Chelvanayakam was a Protestant Christian and a member of the Church of South India (CSI). While studying in Colombo he became a member of the Church of England as the CSI had no presence in the capital. Later, when the CSI established a church in Colombo, Chelvanayakam worshipped there. Though a Christian, Chelvanayakam absorbed many of the values of Hinduism. He claimed