Soma Wickremanayake

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Dharmawardhana ( si, සෝමා වික්‍රමනයක) (21 May 1915 - 25 May 1989) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

educator and socialist politician.

Early life

Soma Dharmawardhana was born on 21 May 1915, the eldest daughter of Dr. H. D. A. Dharmawardhana, the

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

on the Lakshahena Estate,

Deraniyagala Deraniyagala is a town in the Kegalle district in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Deraniyaga city area consists major government administrative offices, textile industries and transportation hub and the district hospital which has seve ...

and Chariyaratne. She had her primary school education at the government mixed school in

Aluthgama Aluthgama ( si, අලුත්ගම, translit=Alutgama; ta, அளுத்கமை, translit=Aḷutkamai) is a coastal town in Kalutara District in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. It is approximately south of Colombo and north of Galle. ...

and her secondary education at

Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte Ananda Sastralaya (Sinhalese language, sinhala: ආනන්ද ශාස්ත්‍රාලය) is a public boys school located in Kotte, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1890 as Kotte Buddhist English Mixed School. In 1952 a part of the school land ...

. She taught at

Kegalu Vidyalaya Kegalu Vidyalaya () is a boys' school in Kegalle, Sri Lanka. It was founded on 14 February 1942 and is a Government national school, providing primary and secondary education through 13 grades. It is the largest boys' School in Kegalle. His ...

Ganemulla Founded during the British era, Ganemulla ( si, ගණේමුල්ල, ta, கணேமுல்ல) is a midsize town situated in the Gampaha District of Sri Lanka. Ganemulla is about from Kadawatha on the Colombo-Kandy road. The nearest ...

Vidyalaya and

Kolonnawa Kolonnawa ( si, කොලොන්නාව, ta, கொலன்னாவ) is a town located on the eastern boundary of Colombo District, Western Province of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā ...

Vidyalaya. Dharmawardhana married Arthur G. Wickramanayake, an inspector with the Department of Commerce and Trade. In 1939 she joined the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா� ...

, becoming the secretary of the party's Women's League.

Political career

At the 4th parliamentary election, held on 19 March 1960, Wickramanayake ran for the seat of Dehiowita, representing the

(LSSP). The sitting LSSP member for Dehiowita,

Edmund Samarakkody Edmund Peter Samarakkody (19 April 1912 – 4 January 1992) was a Ceylonese lawyer, trade unionist, politician and Member of Parliament. Early life and family Samarakkody was born on 19 April 1912, the fifth of seven children to Charles Peter ...

, choosing to run in the Kesbewa electorate instead. Wickramanayake was elected, polling 6,606 votes (37% of the total vote), only 546 votes ahead of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

candidate,

A. F. Wijemanne Alexander Fairlie Wijemanne was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He was a Minister of Justice (Sri Lanka), Minister of Justice as an elected member of the Senate of Ceylon and served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Italy and Permanent Representati ...

. The election results however left neither of Ceylon's two major parties with a majority, with the result being the calling of another election. She was subsequently re-elected at the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960. This time receiving 8,593 votes (50% of the total vote) and 603 votes ahead of Wijemanne. She was one of only three female representatives elected to Parliament at that time. Wickremanayake controversially switched political allegiances from the LSSP becoming a member of the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

. At the 6th parliamentary election, held on 22 March 1965, she contested the Avissawella electorate, challenging one of the LSSP's founders and the sitting member,

Philip Gunawardena Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena (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 Trotskyi ...

. She lost by 11,327 votes to Gunawardena, only securing 33% of the total vote. Wickremanayake died on 25 May 1989, at the age of 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickramanayake, Soma 1915 births 1989 deaths Alumni of Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Sinhalese politicians Sinhalese teachers Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians Women legislators in Sri Lanka