Philip Gunawardena

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Hon. Philip Gunawardena
Minister of Fisheries and Industry
In office 1965–1970
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Dudley Senanayake
Preceded by	W. J. C. Munasinha
Succeeded by	George Rajapaksa
Minister of Agriculture and Food
In office 1956–1959
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Preceded by	J. R. Jayewardene
Succeeded by	C. P. de Silva
Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Avissawella
In office 1956–1970
Preceded by	Kusumasiri Gunawardena
Succeeded by	Bonnie Jayasuriya
In office 1947–1947
Succeeded by	Kusumasiri Gunawardena
Personal details
Born	(1901-01-11)11 January 1901 Boralugoda, Avissawella, British Ceylon
Died	26 March 1972(1972-03-26) (aged 71) Colombo, Dominion of Ceylon
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna
Other political affiliations	Lanka Sama Samaja Party
Spouse	Kusumasiri Gunawardena
Children	Indika Gunawardena, Prasanna Gunawardena, Lakmali Gunawardena, Dinesh Gunawardena, Gitanjana Gunawardena
Alma mater	Ananda College University of Colombo University of Illinois
Occupation	Politician

Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena^[1] (11 January 1901 – 26 March 1972) was a Sri Lankan Marxist politician and leftist. A founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the first political party in Ceylon which was known for having introduced Trotskyism, he later formed the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and was called 'the Father of Socialism' and as 'the Lion of Boralugoda'. A member of the State Council of Ceylon and the Parliament of Ceylon, he served as the Minister of Agriculture and food under S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike from 1956 to 1959 and as Minister of Industries and Fisheries in the national government under Dudley Senanayake from 1965 to 1970.