he was a Christian by religion and a Hindu by culture. Education, law and business After graduating Chelvanayakam started teaching at St. Thomas but resigned when the warden William Arthur Stone refused him leave to visit his dying brother Edward Rajasundaram. He then joined Wesley College, Colombo as chief science master. During this period he studied law at Ceylon Law College and became an advocate of the Supreme Court in 1923. He started practising law in Hulftsdorp, specialising in civil law, and was made a King's Counsel on 31 May 1947. Chelvanayakam was twice offered a position on the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Curtois Howard. Chelvanayakam was part of a syndicate which purchased a controlling stake in the Pettiagalla Estate plantation in Balangoda. He also owned a printing press which, though not profitable, was used to print ITAK's newspaper Suthanthiran (Freedom). Political career All Ceylon Tamil Congress With the annexation of the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815 the British brought the whole island of Ceylon under their control and in 1829 appointed the Colebrooke–Cameron Commission to assess the administration of the island. Among the recommendations of the commission were the end of the separate administration along ethnic/cultural lines for Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamils and the introduction of communal representation whereby Ceylonese members of the Legislative Council were appointed along ethnic lines. The Donoughmore Commission of 1931 introduced universal suffrage and replaced communal representation with territorial representation, thereby introducing majority (Sinhalese) rule. Following the 1936 state council election an all-Sinhalese Board of Ministers was established, stoking fears amongst the island's minorities about Sinhalese domination. Ceylon's Tamils, led by G. G. Ponnambalam, responded by demanding balanced representation (half of seats in legislature for Sinhalese with the remaining half for the combined minorities). When the British appointed Soulbury Commission to look into constitutional reform in 1944, Ceylon's Tamils formed the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) to represent Tamil interests. As a young lawyer Chelvanayakam was not involved in politics but when the ACTC was established in 1944 he became one of its principal organisers. Ponnambalam was the ACTC's president and Chelvanayakam was effectively his deputy. Chelvanayakam was part of the delegation, led by Ponnambalam, to the Soulbury Commission which argued unsuccessfully for balanced representation. Chelvanayakam stood as the ACTC candidate for Kankesanthurai in the 1947 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered Parliament. In the 19th and