Merengna Gaulius Mendis (3 October 1911 – 3 August 2000) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist and a member of the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் '' ...

Biography

Mendis received his education at Piyaratha Vidyalaya, Dodanduwa, Richmond College and

Mahinda College Mahinda College is a Buddhist boys' school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established on 1 March 1892 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. As of today it is a National school (Sri Lanka), national school whi ...

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

. He then became a teacher and taught between 1932 and 1934 before he became a full-time trade unionist and political worker. Mendis was influenced by

Indian nationalism Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, Composite nationalism (India), despite their Demographics of India, diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian national ...

, the second civil disobedience movement in India and S. A. Wickremasinghe, a former student, who in 1931 had addressed the students at

. After he left school Mendis became a teacher at a Buddhist school. He joined the

Suriya-Mal Movement The Suriya-Mal Movement was formed in the British colony of Ceylon to sell '' Suriya'' flowers on Poppy Day for the benefit of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen. The movement became anti-imperialist in character, and was also involved in relief work during ...

in 1934, and after the formation of the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist po ...

(LSSP) in 1935 became the joint secretary of the party. Following a split in the LSSP, based on ideological differences linked to

Trotskyism Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

, Mendis became the General Secretary of the newly founded

United Socialist Party United or Unified or Unitary Socialist Party may refer to: * Unified Socialist Party of Andalusia * United Socialist Party (Bolivia) * Unified Socialist Party (Burkina Faso) * Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia * Unified Socialist Party (France) ...

, (USP) (the forerunner of the Communist Party) and the editor of the party’s

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

journal, the ''United Socialist''. In December 1940, the Ceylon Trade Union Federation (CTUF) was formed and Mendis was one of the organisations leaders. The CTUF was instrumental in the Colombo harbour strike of 1941. In September 1945, the CTUF led by Mendis organised a march of 10,000 workers to the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative authority of China, headed by the Premier * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of S ...

to present their grievances, which was followed by a six-day strike by tram workers during which Mendis and other trade union officials were arrested. In 1947 he ran in the first parliamentary elections for the Communist Party in the

Colombo South Electoral District Colombo South electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and July 1977. The district was named after the city of Colombo in Colombo District, Western Province. The district was a two-member constituency ...

but was unsuccessful, only gaining just over 10% of the vote. In 1965 he contested the 6th parliamentary election in the Rathgama Electoral District where he finished second by 1,210 votes. Mendis successfully ran again in 1970 at the 7th parliamentary election for

, with approximately 65% of the total vote. He was however defeated when he sought re-election for the seat in the 1977 parliamentary elections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendis, M. G. 1911 births 2000 deaths Sinhalese trade unionists Alumni of Richmond College, Galle Alumni of Mahinda College Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Communist Party of Sri Lanka politicians Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians