Maithripala Senanayake (7 July 1916 – 12 July 1998) was a Sri Lankan politician and Governor of the North-Central province. He first studied at St. Joseph's College, Anuradhapura then at St. John's Jaffna, where he attained a mastery in the Tamil Language and later at Nalanda College Colombo. He entered parliament from Medawachchiya Electorate in 1947 when then Ceylon held its first parliamentary elections. When D.S. Senanayake picked his Cabinet in 1952 this promising young man from Raja Rata, Maithripala Senanayake was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs.