Vincent Subasinghe

Vincent Subasinghe was born in Sandalankawa on 29th March, 1906 as the eldest son of the Subasinghe family and he had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. He received his foundational education at Hendiyagala Village School. His pursuit of knowledge continued at St. Mary's College in Negombo and Ananda College in Colombo. His early association of great leaders of Sri Lankan renaissance movement in the calibre of Piyadasa Sirisena, Arthur V Dias and Pandith Batuwantudawa greatly influenced his world view. Vincent Subasinghe was also able to work closely with Sri Lankan national leaders such as P De S Kularatne, D S Senanayake, S W R D Bandaranayake, Sirimavo Bandaranayake and TB Ilangaratne. He regularly sought advice from Venerable Heenatiyana Hemaloka Thero and Ven. Kalukondiyaye Panyasekera Thero. Even if Vincent Subasinghe carried out nationally important and internationally known development work, he spent most of the time of his life in his home town of Sandalankawa. Vincent Subasinghe died, at the age of 80, on 24th of August 1985 at Sandalankawa Cooperative Hospital which he himself built in 1952.

Vincent Subasinghe was born into a prominent Subasinghe family of Sandalankawa in Sathkorale in Kurunegala district. His father Kudabanda Subasinghe was a wealthy planter and his mother Thelisinghe Seelawathi Manike was from an aristocratic family from Naththandiya. Vincent Subasinghe had two brothers Tikiri Banda, Tudor and two sisters Somawathi and Gnanawathi. His younger brother Tikiri Banda (TB) Subasinghe was a Sri Lankan statesman and a politician. He was the 7th Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Soviet Union. It was well known that TB entered politics from Kurunegala district based on the reputation and good will created by Vincent Subasinghe who never wanted to be a national politician. In his biography “Sandalanka Sanda” Vincent Subasinghe has explained in details how he helped both his younger brother TB Subasinghe as well as his cousin I. M. R. A. Iriyagolle to enter national politics representing Kurunegala district in 1947 election. Vincent had two sons, Chandraguptha Subasinghe, a planter and his younger brother Ashoka Nihal Subasinghe who was a mechanical engineer by profession. Next generations of Subasinghe family are still based in Sandalankawa and also spread around Sri Lanka.

In 1939, Vincent Subasinghe laid the foundation for the Sandalanka Cooperative, a humble venture that blossomed into "Asia's Largest Cooperative." His visionary leadership transformed the cooperative movement, empowering farmers and landowners not only in Sandalanka but also across the Sathkorala region. Through his guidance, the cooperative enterprise diversified its activities, encompassing coconut milling, copra plantations, manufacturing, retail, and healthcare services. Based on his pinioning efforts in popularizing multi-purpose cooperatives across Sri Lanka, Vincent Subasinghe was called “King of Cooperatives in Sri Lanka” and was awarded the title “Sridhara” in 1958.

Vincenet Subasinghe’s unique character, very uncommon during his era, was his true belief and real practise of local development. After his studies, he did not settle in Colombo but returned back to his home town of Sandalankawa. He resided in Sandalankawa until his death. He actively contributed to socio-economic development in the region in various ways. He mainly carried our projects and ventures in the health sector, education, agriculture and economic development. Among many of his initiatives, Sandalankawa Central College, Sandalankawa Cooperative Hospital and Sandalankawa Multi-purpose Cooperative Society are probably the most important ventures. Vincent Subasinghe is still regarded as “Sandalaka Sanda” or “Moon of Sandalankawa”. His work not only has contributed to the socio-economic development but also helped Sandalankawa to build a very positive image as a prosperous and progressive place in the Island.

Vincent Subasinghe, in addition to his well known contribution to cooperative movement in Sri Lanka and his home region of Sandalankawa, had done an yeoman service to the country in general. Most notable services are working as the founder chairman of People’s Bank in Sri Lanka, serving as the chairman of Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE), also known as Sathosa, and starting the Cooperative Rural Bank. In addition, Vincent Subasinghe has initiated many ventures and projects across the country to build the local economy. As a true believer of local knowledge and local resources, he has demonstrated the power of local economic business models as alternatives to colonial trading systems. By doing so, he empowered people in very rural and underdeveloped parts of the country to become active entrepreneurs and confident citizens while contributing to the national economy.

Vincent Subasinghe has led his entire life as a proud Sri Lankan and always looked at local and national models for building Sri Lanka as an independent nation against colonial legacies. However, he was also an internationalist by thinking as well as practise. For building his local and national movements and ventures, he has thoroughly studied the international practises and models from across the world. In a time when international travel was very difficult and costly, Vincent Subsinghe travelled extensively, spending his own money, for studies and building partnerships. He visited many cities in India to learn about the cooperatives there and used the experience to start the cooperative movement in Sri Lanka. In an era when the world was divided into two camps as socialist and capitalist, Vincent Subasinghe has been able to visit and build relationships in many diversified places such as USSR, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, UK as well as Asian countries. His special relations to Russia and China was very useful in carrying out his national services in Sri Lanka.