| Honorific-Prefix: | Senator |
| Sir Chittampalam A. Gardiner | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | Kt KSS KSG |
| Office1: | Member of the Senate of Ceylon |
| Birth Date: | 6 January 1899 |
| Occupation: | Businessman |
| Blank1: | Ethnicity |
| Data1: | Ceylon Tamil |
Sir Chittampalam Abraham Gardiner (6 January 1899 - December 1960) was a Ceylon Tamil businessman and member of the Senate of Ceylon.
Gardiner was born on 6 January 1899.[1] He was the son of Samuel Vairamuttu Gardiner and Salomapillai Bastiampillai.[1] The Gardiner family were originally from Achchuvely and Manipay in northern Ceylon but later moved to Colombo.[2]
Gardiner married Angeline Casie Chetty, daughter of Aloysius Mount Carmel Casie Chetty. They had an adopted son, Cyril Aloysius.
Gardiner studied law before entering business.[2] He pioneered the cinema business in Ceylon and established The Ceylon Theatres Limited, which is now one of Sri Lanka's largest conglomerates, on 29 September 1928.[2] [3] [4] He controlled several leading businesses in Colombo and had interests in others including Cargills and Millers.[2]
Gardiner was made a Knight of St. Sylvester in 1947 for his services to the Roman Catholic Church.[2] He was also a Knight of St. Gregory.[1] He was appointed to the Senate of Ceylon in 1947.[2] He was knighted in the 1951 New Year Honours.[5]
Gardiner was a Rotarian and made a number of large charitable endowments.[2] He was a keen horse owner, his horse won the Governor's Cup in 1947.[2] He died in December 1960.[3]
Parson's Road, the site of Regal Theatre, Ceylon Theatres' first cinema, was renamed Sir Chittampalam A. Gardiner Mawatha.[2] [3] [4]
. Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. 1997. 54. S. Arumugam.