Florence Senanayake

{{EngvarB|date=August 2017}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Hon.

| name = Florence Senanayake

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| imagesize =

| constituency_MP1 = Kiriella

| parliament1 = Ceylon

| term_start1 = 1947

| term_end1 = 1952

| predecessor1 = seat created

| successor1 = A. E. B. Kiriella

| birth_name = Daisy Maria Florence Mendis

| birth_date = {{birth date|1903|06|19|df=y}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age|1988|12|03|1903|06|19|df=y}}

| death_place =

| nationality = Sri Lankan

| party = Lanka Sama Samaja Party

| occupation = politician

| otherparty =

| spouse = Reginald S. Vincent Senanayke

| partner =

| relations = K. E. Mendis (father)

| children = Nimal, Laki, Daya, Evan, Rani, Lalitha

| residence =

| alma_mater = Princess of Wales' College, Colombo

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Daisy Maria Florence Senanayake (née Mendis) (19 June 1903 – 3 December 1988) was the first female Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon).{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.lk/en/members-of-parliament/directory-of-past-members/viewMember/2665|title=Hon. Senanayake, Daisy Maria Florence (Mrs.), M.P.|work=Directory of Past Members|publisher=Parliament of Sri Lanka|access-date=9 August 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070819/FunDay/heritage.html|title=First parliamentary elections|newspaper=Sunday Times|date=19 August 2007|access-date=9 August 2017}}

Daisy Maria Florence Mendis was born on 19 June 1903 into a family of eight children in Rawatawatta, Moratuwa. Her father, K. E. Mendis, was a planter. She was educated at the Princess of Wales' College, Colombo.{{cite book|title=Women in Our Legislature|first=Chitra|last=Wijesekera|publisher=Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha|date=1995|pages=48–50|isbn=9789559579700}}

In 1925 she married Reginald S. Vincent Senanayke (1898–1946), a planter and founding member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and its treasurer between 1935 and 1939.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/s/e.htm|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Marxism|title=Glossary of People|publisher=Marxists Internet Archive|author=Ervin, Charles Wesley|access-date=9 August 2017}}

Senanayake was elected in 1947 at the 1st Ceylonese parliamentary elections, as the member for Kiriella, representing the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.{{cite web |url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/web/images/pdf/general-election-results/general-election-1947.pdf |title=Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947 |publisher=Department of Elections, Sri Lanka |access-date=9 August 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} She polled 5,535 votes (35.5% of the total vote) winning against a field of five other male candidates, with her nearest opponent, T. K. W. Chandrasekera, receiving 3,294 votes (21.1% of the total vote). Senanayake failed to retain the seat at the 2nd parliamentary elections in 1952, where she received 3,192 votes (15% of the total votes), with the successful candidate, A. E. B. Kiriella, polling 9,978 votes (48% of the total vote).{{cite web |url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/web/images/pdf/general-election-results/general-election-1952.pdf |title=Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952 |publisher=Department of Elections, Sri Lanka |access-date=10 August 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

She and her husband had six children, including the Laki Senanayake who became an artist.{{cite news |last1=Raheem |first1=Ismeth |title=Laki as I knew him |url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/210606/plus/laki-as-i-knew-him-445889.html |access-date=14 June 2021 |publisher=Sunday Times}}