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Sri Lankan anti colonial activist and politician

Violet Vivienne Goonewardene (, ; 18 September 19163 October 1996), commonly known as "Vivi", was a Sri Lankan anti colonial activist and prominent politician, serving as one of the world's first female ministers. A key figure in both the Indian independence movement and the Sri Lankan independence movement, Goonewardene was a prominent member on the non aligned stage, where she fought against perceived injustices and was critical of the Middle East diplomacy sponsored by the United States. Goonewardene was the first and, to date, only female National Hero of Sri Lanka. By her death, she was one of the Left's most vibrant personalities, and the foremost female figure in the Sri Lankan leftist movement. Born into an affluent family to a pro monarchy conservative, while at secondary school, Goonewardene became involved in the anti imperialist Suriya Mal Movement, fighting against perceived injustices. She volunteered during the 1934 Malaria Epidemic, at which time she witnessed rampant malnutrition of the poor. Despite being disallowed by her father from pursuing higher education, her maternal uncles, Philip and Robert Gunawardena, helped her attend University, where she was often involved in activism. It was here that she met her husband, Leslie Goonewardene, who had founded in 1935 Sri Lanka's first political party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. During her political career, she was instrumental in the rise of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. With the beginning of the Second World War, Goonewardene evaded arrest by fleeing to India under a false name. There, she immersed herself in the Quit India Movement, culminating in India's independence from Britain in 1947. Upon her return to Sri Lanka, she played a large role in Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948. From the 1940s to 1960s, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was Sri Lanka's main opposition party and in the 1960s, the party led the United Front coalition; through their election landslide bringing in the first female Prime Minister. Goonewardene served as a prominent member of Parliament, and as President of the All Ceylon Local Government Worker's Union from 1949 until her death. Through this, Goonewardene attempted to reform the former British colony of Ceylon into a socialist republic by nationalising organisations in the banking, education, industry, media, and trade sectors.

Goonewardene was born in Colombo on 18 September 1916 as Violet Vivienne Goonetilleke. She was the eldest of five children born to Dr. Don Allenson Goonetilleke, a pro monarchy conservative who believed in the continuous British rule of Ceylon, and his wife Emily Angeline Gunawardena. As a physician, her father was often transferred to various parts of Ceylon. She was named Vivienne after the French nurse who had helped to deliver her. Goonewardene spent her early youth in Tissamaharama, a remote village in which her father was stationed. Goonewardene's maternal grandfather, Don Jakolis Rupasinghe Gunawardena, was a wealthy landowner having served as the village headman under colonial governance. He was known as "Boralugoda Ralahamy" by locals; this came from him being the headman, or ralahamy, of the village of Boralugoda. He was a leader in the Buddhist revival of the early 20th Century and was one of those incarcerated by the Governor General, Robert Chalmers, under the pretext of involvement in the Sinhala Muslim riots of 1915. Ralahamy was sentenced to death, in part as an attempt by Chalmers to eliminate regional nationalistic leaders and to suppress a possible independence movement from springing out of the disturbances. Goonewardene was educated at Musaeus College, a private girls' school in Colombo. There, she was elected head girl in 1933. It was while studying at Musaeus College that her interest in politics developed. This movement was a protest against the proceeds of poppy sales on Armistice Day (11 November) being used for the benefit of the British ex servicemen to the detriment of Ceylonese ex servicemen. One of the latter, Mr. Aelian Perera, had started a rival sale of Suriya flowers on the same day. The proceeds of each sale were devoted to help needy Ceylonese ex servicemen. While the selling of the Suriya flower had begun in 1931, by 1933 the selling of it instead of the poppy on 11 November was launched on the initiative of the South Colombo Youth League. The movement had the slogan of "against slavery and poverty and for freedom and prosperity". On Remembrance Day 1934, Goonewardene sold the Suriya flower in her school to students and teachers. Vivienne did go further, leading fellow students to place their boxes of instruments atop the blackboards and at 11.00 a. m. to topple these, with the subsequent noise masking that of the ceremonial gun salute. floods, from October onwards; and a malaria epidemic, affecting 1,000,000 people with at least 125,000 deaths, which continued through 1935, heavily effected the poor. The Goonetilleke's residence was converted into a hospital for the sick. The volunteers, including Vivienne, observed that there was widespread malnutrition among the poor, which was aggravated by the shortage of rice, and which reduced resistance to the disease.

Goonewardene's father, as a traditionalist, opposed the continued education of Vivienne and believed that she should be married off to another man of wealth. As she was at boarding school and her father was often travelling, her Uncle Robert and Aunt Caroline were given the authority to remove Vivienne from school. Robert helped her, against her father's wishes, leave school to attend classes for the Cambridge Matriculation Examination, which she passed at age 16. Here, she won an exhibition at the scholarship examination as well as a scholarship to study English Honours at University College, Colombo. Upon discovering her university acceptance, Goonetilleke refused to let Vivienne study there. It was created with the broad aims of independence from British rule and socialism by a group of young people who had gathered together for that purpose. The group at the commencement numbered six, composed principally of students who had principally returned from education abroad, influenced deeply by the ideas of Karl Marx and Lenin. Included in its founders were Vivienne's uncles, Philip and Robert. Being so close to the founding members of the party, Goonewardene began attending meetings. She attended these meetings with her Aunt Caroline and Uncle Robert. Vivienne also joined the anti Fascist demonstrations against Spain's Franco organised by the Party in Colombo. He was born on 31 October 1909 in Panadura, south western Ceylon, to the wealthy Methodist Goonewardene family, which was active in local colonial era politics. The Goonewardene family were major proprietors of coconut property. Goonewardene's mother died when he was a toddler. She was from the well known Fernando family of 'Whitehall' Katana, one of the wealthiest families in Ceylon, privately owning very significant amounts of land. Leslie was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, later being sent to a Welsh Publish school and studying at the London School of Economics. Leslie was considered the ideologue of the party, especially in the 1935 36 period. He was later described by Hector Abhayavardhana as "the custodian of the consciousness of the LSSP". Following their meetings, Leslie would often drop in to the Goonetilleke's home in Diddeniya. Following the success in the Bracegirdle affair, Vivienne was invited to a dinner at which Leslie declared his love for her. The two intended to wed, but Vivienne's father was against the relationship because Goonewardene was a Christian, from the minority Karava caste and a revolutionary under surveillance. She was kept a virtual prisoner at home, and Goonewardene was forced to file a habeas corpus writ, a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court, to get her released. While she was kept a prisoner, she was still able to secretly write letters to Leslie with the help of a local bookseller. During the legal battle, they were notably represented by their attorney, the future President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party experienced an upsurge in support, characterising the Second World War as "an imperialist war". This support led to the party's re establishment underground, a necessary move due to its vocal anti war stance, opposing the British war effort. Members of the party, including two State Council members, as well as others in its leadership—including N. M. Perera, Philip Gunawardena and Colvin R. de Silva—were arrested and jailed, but Vivienne evaded arrest while her husband, Leslie, went underground.

By the later part of 1940, Vivienne was heavily pregnant with her first child. Through discussion, the Indian and Ceylonese Trotskyists led by Leslie established a preliminary committee for the formation of the Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma (BLPI for short). The discussions for this took place through underground meetings in Kandy in December 1940 and March 1941 and set the stage for a sole Trotskyist party for India. An underground conference was held on 20 April 1941, attended by 42 delegates. At this conference, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party conceived a new constitution and manifesto, both of which were accepted by the delegates. The meetings in 1940 and 1941 were also attended by the other detained LSSP leaders, who had been aided by their imprisoner; the imprisoner later helped them escape their prison on 7 April 1942. The BLPI was formed in May 1942 and was approved by the Fourth International. Through this, the now public BLPI, fronted by Goonewardene, S. C. C. Anthonipillai, Robert Gunawardena, William de Silva, and V. Karalasingham, focused on continuing strike waves that had begun in May 1941. These continued through 1942 and 1944. Initially, during World War II, the Goonewardene led BLPI remained relatively small—a large contrast to the high expectations of a subcontinent wide political revolutionary party. Whilst the BLPI's full name, the Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma, suggests that it also represented Burma, there was arguably no party representation there. The BLPI, however, found later success, launching Spark, its party publication issued in the party's base of Calcutta. Due to political suppression, the publication was moved to Bombay and its name was changed to New Spark. They published Trotsky's open letter to the Indian workers and other pieces. While Vivienne was busy raising a child, Leslie was a key contributor to the party publications, writing under the pseudonym, K. Tilak. During the remainder of World War II, the BLPI was able to influence the trade union and student movements in several cities. Significant membership was recorded among tramway workers, as well as workers of the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills.

In December 1941, by which point, Vivienne's eldest child, Kumundini was just over a year old, Vivienne moved permanently to India. Her travel had not yet been restricted as she wasn't, at this time, on the colonial authorities' wanted list. She remained uncaptured throughout the war years both in Ceylon and India. Following the Quit India Movement, hope was rife among the South Asian socialist leaders. Leslie Goonewardene, under the pseudonym K. Tilak, wrote that the "young Bolshevik Leninist Party now faces its first real chance for expansion The situation is changing and without doubt, of all of the parties and political groups in India, the BLPI is the one which is going to gain the most in this change." Albeit the help, with an infant to care for Goonewardene's political involvement was significantly lessened. Members of the other section, formed out of the exiled BLPI nucleus, effectively maintained a separate party, the Bolshevik Samasamaja Party (BSP). The latter group functioned as the Ceylon section of BLPI and was led by Colvin R de Silva, Leslie Goonawardene and Edmund Samarakkoddy. The relation between the two groups was often antagonistic. The BSP accused the LSSP of 'organisational Menshevism'. The LSSP accused the BSP of being introvert doctrinaires. LSSP wanted to build a mass based party, whereas the BSP concentrated on building a cadre based (revolutionary) party. On 25 October 1945 fist fights broke out at between the two groups at a meeting of the BSP.

When Goonewardene returned to Sri Lanka following the end of the Second World War, the LSSP was split, with two separate groups under the LSSP name. One was led by N. M. Perera and Philip Gunawardena and the other by Leslie and Colvin R. de Silva. Vivienne identified with the latter of the two factions. The LSSP and the BSP were both at the helm of the strike waves that occurred in the post war period. In 1946 there was a brief reconciliation between the two factions. At the general election of 1947 the LSSP emerged as the main opposition party, with 10 seats. The BSP obtained 5 seats. However, SWRD Bandaranaike and his Sinhala Maha Sabha backed the newly formed United National Party (UNP), which was thus able to form a government under DS Senanayake. Goonewardene's return led to her founding and becoming one of the major backers of the world's first socialist women's organisation, United Women's Front or ‘Eksath Kantha Peramuna’. The party did, however, collapse shortly after its conception alongside the Soviet backed Communist Party withdrawing support of it as part of its non co operation policy with Trotskyists.

Following the end of the war, the LSSP's proscription ended, and Leslie was able to return to Ceylon to work further on the independence movement. The Lanka Sama Samaja Party led Sri Lankan independence movement succeeded when, on 4 February 1948, Ceylon was granted independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. Dominion status within the British Commonwealth was retained for the next 24 years until 22 May 1972, when it became a republic and was renamed the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The armed forces continued to be commanded by British Officers and the Royal Navy and the RAF continued to have bases on the island (at Trincomalee and Katunayake). The Government was heavily pro British and anti Soviet. The new government proceeded to disenfranchise plantation workers of Indian Tamils descent, using the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948 and the Parliamentary Elections Amendment Act of 1949. These measures were intended primarily to undermine the Left electorally.

In December 1949, Vivienne stood for the Bolshevik Samasamaja Party to represent the Havelock Town ward of the Colombo Municipal Council. Despite the significant numerical advantage that the LSSP found themselves, Vivienne set out to canvass with her second child, Suren. While campaigning, her father had become very ill. With the aided presence of his young grandson, Vivienne was able to break down the barriers with her father. While a Municipal Councillor, she gave a lift to Ranasinghe Premadasa every day.

Vivienne also had offices outside of the Colombo Municipal Council, allowing her to serve not just her own constituency. While under N. M. Perera, the union was able to secure the permanency of employment to the workers, as well as the right to pension and retirement. Under Vivienne, the Union won widows and orphans pension. Vivienne brought this up with the Minister of Finance, J. R. Jayewardene, who proceeded to include Municipal Workers in the bill.

The split between the LSSP and the BSP had weakened the movement, and in particular the BSP which was clearly the smaller of the two parties. A process of reunification was initiated, and in 1950 the BSP merged into the LSSP. Through the reunification, the LSSP became the Ceylonese section of the Fourth International. However, Philip Gunawardena opposed the reconciliation with the BSP. Thus he left LSSP and formed a new party, Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (VLSSP). At the 1952 general election, the electoral performance was harmed by the relative prosperity due to the price of natural rubber being driven up by the Korean War. During this election, Vivienne contested the Kelaniya seat for the LSSP. Vivienne's Buddhist background gave her an advantage while contesting the seat, however the seat was contested by the SLFP's Wimala Wijewardene, who received the support of the Kelaniya temple's Buddhist monks. While campaigning, Vivienne's third child, Premilla, was born, further limiting the extent to which she could canvass. Also, the disenfranchisement of the Indian Tamil estate workers by the UNP government deprived the LSSP of one of its main bases. Moreover, it damaged the electoral fortunes of its ally, the CIC, which went unrepresented.

In 1953, the LSSP took the lead in organising the Hartal. The immediate cause for the Hartal was a hike in the price of rice from 25 cent to 70 cent per measure by the UNP government. At the time, J. R. Jayawardena was the finance minister of the country. Maintaining the price of rice at 25 cent had been an electoral promise given by UNP in the 1952 elections, and when the new rates were introduced to the public, uproar ensued. This anger was furthered by the suspension of the meals given to schoolchildren and hikes in rail ticket fares and postal fees. Prior to 1953, the concept of a 'Hartal', of General strike, was relatively unknown in Ceylon. The Communist Party and VLSSP supported the Hartal and the SLFP and CIC expressed sympathy for the demand of the Hartal, but did not actively support the call for strike. The Ceylon Mercantile Union supported the demands of the strike, but in not take part in it. Rather it encouraged their members to go to work wearing black armbands as a means to protest. The Hartal took the country to a complete standstill. Afraid of a revolution in the making, the government cabinet sought refuge on , a Royal Navy warship offshore. The mass upsurge that accompanied the action of the strikers caused Dudley Senanayake to resign from the premiership. The Hartal emoboldended the LSSP to start to consider that the party might be able to seize state power. The MEP won a landslide in the polls held that year. The LSSP once again became the main opposition party, and N. M. Perera became the Leader of Opposition. Through this, the LSSP supported the reforms initiated by the new government, but strongly opposed the 'Sinhala Only' policy. Vivienne was elected as a Member of Parliament in the Colombo North Electoral District between 1956 and 1960, where she won 58.09% of the vote. In July 1959, both LSSP and the Communist Party withdrew their support for the government, as inner party feuds within the SLFP had resulted in a temporary victory for the right wing and expulsions of leftist ministers like Philip Gunawardena. In March 1960, the LSSP contested the general elections on the slogan 'forward to a Sama Samaja Government'. The votes won by the LSSP, the Communists and the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (a new party, not the 1956 front) of Philip Gunawardena, were sufficient to have made them the biggest bloc in Parliament. However, due to their contesting separately, the LSSP and the MEP won just 10 seats each, the CP a mere 3. Elections were held again in July and the LSSP had a no contest pact with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, which was thus able to form a government. Despite their success in the election, the Fourth International was highly critical of the electoral tactics of LSSP, and the LSSP chose not to attend the World Congress of International the following year. In 1962, officers of the Army and Police attempted a coup d'état aimed at overthrowing the government and bringing the UNP to power. This plot was foiled, and the SLFP lurched leftwards in terms of policy. The local branches of petroleum companies were nationalised, leading to a boycott of the country by the oil multi nationals; the boycott was broken with help from the Kansas Oil Producers Co operative and the Romanian Government. A parallel process was one of increasing self confidence and unity amongst the Ceylonese left wing. In the parliament they were in the opposition. On May Day 1963 the three main left parties (LSSP, CP and MEP) held a massive joint rally. That was followed by the launching of United Front on 12 August, the tenth anniversary of the 1953 Hartal. The front launched agitations on issues like bring down the prices of essential commodities, leading it to represent an immediate threat to the governance of SLFP. The SLFP began to offer the left parties ministerial posts and worked intensively to break the unity of ULF. In 1964, Vivienne was elected as MP for the Borella Electoral District. During the electoral race, she ran against Mrs. Kamala de Silva, the widow of W. D. de Silva. After her victory as part of the United Left Front, Vivienne was quoted as having said "Only the ULF and the UNP" by the Ceylon Daily News, 20 January 1964. In her concession speech, Kamala wrote about Vivienne:
text="She played a role of a friend in need, in the hour of my despair and gradually matured into my most formidable opponent. "|author= |title=Observer, 21st January 1964.|source=

From the late 1940s to 1960s, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party served as the opposition Party in Sri Lanka, whilst being recognised as the Sri Lankan wing of the Fourth International, an organisation characterised by Trotskyism and Anti Stalinism. Through this, the party, led by Goonewardene, attempted to reform the former British Colony of Ceylon into a socialist republic by nationalising organisations in the banking, education, industry, media, and trade sectors. In 1959, despite being one of the largest landowners in Sri Lanka through inheritance, Vivienne and Leslie fought for the re introduction of inheritance tax to the country, despite the opposition of wealthy established parliamentarians. Their party also introduced a limit on the number of houses one could own. This led to them giving away multiple properties to the renters, while Sirimavo Bandaranaike transferred properties to other relatives. With its increased popularity, the LSSP was looking to grow. In 1964, the party held a conference in which the majority of delegates nominated the classification of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), a petty bourgeois party, leaving the prospects of a coalition with it. A group led by Edmund Samarakkody and Bala Tampoe, split from Goonewardene's party to form the Revolutionary Lanka Sama Samaja Party. Later in 1964, the LSSP, with the exception of Leslie and Colvin de Silva, led a coalition with Sirimavo Bandaranaike, allowing her to become the first female prime minister in modern world history. This principal change led to the LSSP being expelled from the Fourth International, with the Revolutionary Lanka Sama Samaja Party taking its place. Following the election, Leslie alongside Colvin R. de Silva declined to accept cabinet office. Vivienne, however, believed she could have the most impact as Secretary of Home Affairs, so took up the role. The coalition government fell in 1965 due to the desertion of several members. However, the number of votes won by the LSSP increased at the general election held that year. After the election, supporters of the party were subjected to a period of co ordinated victimisation by the new seven party coalition led by the UNP. In 1968, Goonewardene orchestrated the LSSP joining the SLFP and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) in a United Front. That year's joint May Day rally was said to be the biggest ever to take place in Sri Lanka.

For her role in politics, Goonewardene was viewed as the leading Leftist woman politician in Sri Lanka. She became good friends with Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world's first female Head of State, and proceeded to attend multiple delegations with her. Vivienne and Sirimavo attended the World Conference on International Women's Year in Mexico City in 1975, where the United States Department of State noted Vivienne for her "Top place on a National level" and was said to be "depended upon to have something provocative to say in Mexico City".

Goonewardene was a prominent member on the non aligned stage. As part of political delegations, she met with and knew well Jawaharlal Nehru, V. K. Krishna Menon, Josip Broz Tito, and was friends with Gamal Abdel Nasser. While in North Korea, Kim Il sung has insisted on meeting her, leading to her missing of her connecting flight to the USSR. Goonewardene remained a staunch supporter of the Palestinians in the Arab–Israeli conflict and was critical of the Middle East diplomacy sponsored by the United States. She headed the Committee for Solidarity with Palestine, as well as the Arab Ceylon Solidarity Group.

Vivienne was widely celebrated in 2016 on the Hundredth Anniversary of her birth. The celebrations were attended by the President, Mahinda Rajapaksa.