N. Shanmugarajah

Shanmugarajah was born on 6 November 1912.^[1] He was the son of S. Nadarajah and Pakialakshmi from Vannarpannai in northern Ceylon.^[1] He was educated at Jaffna Central College.^[1] He then studied engineering at Ceylon Technical College in Colombo.^[1]

Shanmugarajah married Padmavathy, daughter of Duraipillai.^[1] They had three children (Priyadarshani, Chitraleka and Ravi Prakash).^[1]

Shanmugarajah worked as an apprentice for Calendar Cables Ltd in India before joining the Department of Electrical Undertakings in Ceylon.^[1] After a series of promotions he became general manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board.^[1]