Hon.
Premalal Kumarasiri
பிரேமலால் குமாரசிறி
ප්‍රේමලාල් කුමාරසිරි
Member of the Ceylon Parliament
for Hakmana
In office
1947–1952
Preceded bySeat created
Succeeded byC. A. Dharmapala
Personal details
Born(1919-12-12)12 December 1919
Gonapinuwala
DiedOctober 2004(2004-10-00) (aged 84)
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partyCeylon Communist Party (Maoist)
Other political
affiliations		Communist Party of Ceylon
SpouseMenike
ChildrenKanthilal
Alma materRichmond College, Galle, Ananda College, Colombo
OccupationCommunist
Known forMaoist politics

Premalal Kumarasiri (12 December 1919 - October 2004) was a Sri Lankan communist politician and former member of parliament.[1]

Premalal Kumarasiri was born on 12 December 1919 in Gonapinuwala, a village in the south of Sri Lanka.[2] He attended the local village school and then Ananda College in Colombo.[2] After graduating he took up full-time work for the Communist Party of Ceylon.

In 1947 he was elected to the first parliament of Ceylon, representing the Hakmana electorate,[3] as the Ceylon Communist Party's candidate. At only twenty-eight years old he was the youngest sitting member of the parliament.[2]

In 1963 Kumarasiri organised the formation of the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) with N. Shanmugathasan, D. N. Nadunge, D. K. D. Jinendrapala, Higgoda Dharmasena, K. Manickavasagar, N. L. Perera, K. Wimalapala, K. Kulaveerasingham, W. S. de Siriwardene, A. D. Charleshamy, Watson Fernando, W. A. Dharmadasa, S. M. Wickremasinghe, A. Jayasuriya, D. A. Gunasekera, Cyril Kulatunge, Victor Silva, K.A. Subramaniam, Susima, K. V. Krishnakutty, S. Janapriya, Kanti Abeyasekere, E. T. Moorthy, Dharmadasa Jayakoddy, H. G. A. de Silva, S. M. P. de Silva, H. M. P. Mohideen, D. M. J. Abeyagunewardene, O. A. Ramiah, D. B. Alwis, C. S. Manohar, S. Sivadasan, Samarasiri de Silva and P. Wijayatileke. Kumarasiri was the first General Secretary of the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist). [4][5][6]

He received the first Premier of the People's Republic of China on behalf of the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) when Zhou Enlai visited Sri Lanka in 1964.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Hon. Kumarasiri, Premalal M.P." Directory of Past Members. Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Rajapaksa, Mahinda (7 October 2004). "A tribute to Premalal Kumarasiri". The Island. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 17 July 2017.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Peking Review, Issue 50 dated 13 December 1963
  5. ^ Marxists.org. To All Marxist-Leninists Inside the Ceylon Communist Party
  6. ^ "Salute from සත්‍යමනායි SATHIAMANAI சத்தியமனை".
  7. ^ "Zhou Enlai visit Photo from தொழிலாளி 1964.03.14" (PDF).


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