Anil Moonesinghe
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The Honourable Anil Moonesinghe MP |
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|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 February 1927 Colombo |
| Died | 8 December 2002 Colombo |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | Lanka Sama Samaja Party |
| Other political affiliations |
Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Revolutionary Communist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanne Hoban, Joan de Zilva |
| Relations | Don Carolis Hewavitharana, Anagarika Dharmapala, Susil Moonesinghe, Mangala Moonesinghe |
| Children | Dr Janaki Blum, Vinod Moonesinghe, Previn Moonesinghe, Priyanka Moonesinghe |
| Residence | Welikadawatte, Kirulapone |
| Alma mater | Royal College, Colombo |
| Occupation | Politician, Trade Unionist |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Buddhist |
Anil Moonesinghe (15 February 1927 – 8 December 2002) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist revolutionary politician and trade unionist. He became a member of parliament, a Cabinet Minister of Transport in 1964 , the Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 1994-2000 and a diplomat. He authored several books and edited newspapers and magazines. He was chairman and general manager of a State corporation. He briefly held the honorary rank of Colonel.
Moonesinghe was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), on 15 February 1927. A member of the family of Anagarika Dharmapala (who named him 'Anil Kumar'), he was brought up with Buddhist and Sinhalese nationalist values, as well as an abhorrence of the colonial power, Britain.
He went to school at Royal College, Colombo, an elite institution which produced many radicals as well as civil servants and bourgeois politicians, where he won his colours in athletics. During the Second World War he organised a brigade of boys to aid the Japanese if they landed on the island and earned himself the nickname 'Rommel' at school. Later he became influenced by communism (he wrote in praise of the Red Air Force) and specifically by Trotskyism.
He went on to University College Ceylon (which later became University of Ceylon), where he excelled in athletics, representing his University at the All India Universities Athletic Meet, which was held regularly in those years, in Lahore in 1944. He taught briefly at Royal Primary School, which had been evacuated to Glendale Bungalow, Bandarawela. He won an exhibition to the University of London and went to Britain in 1945. He sailed on board a troopship; when the news of Churchill's defeat at the general election came through, all the soldiers on board threw their caps in the air and cheered, a fact which greatly encouraged him.
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