S. A. Wickramasinghe

Sugiswara Abeywardena Wickremasinghe (13 April 1900 – 25 August 1981) was the founder of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka. He was the first Leftist to be elected to Ceylon State Council in 1931. He is considered one of the leading political figures of Sri Lanka in the twentieth century.

Hon. S. A. Wickremasinghe
Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Akuressa
In office 1956–1977
Preceded by	Doreen Young Wickremasinghe
Succeeded by	Dayananda Wickremasinghe
Member of the State Council of Ceylon for Morawka
In office 1931–1935
Succeeded by	R. C. Kannangara
In office 1946–1947
Preceded by	R. C. Kannangara
Personal details
Born	(1900-05-13)13 May 1900 Athuraliya, Matara District, British Ceylon
Died	25 August 1981(1981-08-25) (aged 81) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Communist Party of Sri Lanka
Spouse	Doreen Young Wickremasinghe
Alma mater	Mahinda College Galle Ananda College Colombo Ceylon Medical College
Profession	Politician and medical doctor

Early life and education

S. A. Wickramasinghe was born in Nasnaranketiya Walawwa, Athuraliya in the Matara district of then British Ceylon in 1900. He received his primary education at Mahinda College, Galle, where he engaged in social services and Buddhist activities. He later entered Ananda College, Colombo.

Wickramasinghe pursued his higher studies in medicine at the Ceylon Medical College, and proceeded to the United Kingdom for his post-graduate studies.

In England, he participated on activism with the League Against Imperialism and the British Communist Party. During this time he met fellow Ceylonese progressives and the future leaders of the Left movement such as N. M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva and Leslie Goonewardene, who were also studying in London and fellow-students of Marxism.

Early activism

On his way back to Ceylon, S. A. Wickramasinghe travelled to India to meet members of the Indian National Congress as well as the Communist Party of India. He was immediately arrested by British police in Bombay but managed to make contact with figures such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore.

After returning to Sri Lanka, he co-founded the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and also served as the General Manager of Buddhist Theosophical Society schools in Sri Lanka. A medical practitioner by profession, he started working as a doctor after his post-graduate studies and joined the Government Service and started practising in his native Matara district.

Wickramasinghe played a leading role in the Suriya Mal Movement. He also organised relief for peasants during the Malaria epidemic and floods that plagued Sri Lanka in 1934 and 1935.

Founding of Communist Party of Ceylon

In 1941, when Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Wickramasinghe led the faction who argued that World War 2 was not an inter-imperialist war but a war against fascism. For their defence of Stalin and the Soviet Union, Wickramasinghe and his comrades were expelled by the Trotskyites in the LSSP.

Wickramasinghe's faction, which included Pieter Keuneman, M. G. Mendis, and A. Vaidialingam formed the United Socialist Party, which became the Communist Party of Ceylon in 1943.

Personal life

Wickramasinghe was married to Doreen Young, a British leftist who later became a prominent Communist politician and a Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka. She and Wickremasinghe had two children.

Publications

• The Gal Oya Project (1951)
• The Way Ahead

Electoral history

Electoral history of S. A. Wickramasinghe

Election	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1931 state council	Morawaka				Elected
1936 state council	Morawaka				Not elected
1946 state council by	Morawaka				Elected
1950 parliamentary by	Colombo Central		Communist Party of Ceylon	12,501	Not elected
1952 parliamentary	Hakmana		Communist Party of Ceylon	12,601	Not elected
1956 parliamentary	Akuressa		Communist Party of Ceylon	20,867	Elected
1960 March parliamentary	Akuressa		Communist Party of Ceylon	13,191	Elected
1960 July parliamentary	Akuressa		Communist Party of Ceylon	12,488	Elected
1965 parliamentary	Akuressa		Communist Party of Ceylon	16,096	Elected
1970 parliamentary	Akuressa		Communist Party of Ceylon	20,007	Elected
1977 parliamentary	Akuressa		Communist Party of Sri Lanka	16,436	Not elected

See also

• Suriya-Mal Movement
• Lanka Sama Samaja Party

References

• dailynews.lk Biography of S. A. Wickramasinghe
• Dr. S. A. Wickramasinghe remembered on his 102nd birthday