Selina Margaret Perera (née ''Peiris'') (1909–1986) 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, ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

Trotskyist 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 ...

. She was a founding member 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) and

party secretary In politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader (or party chairman). In s ...

. She was married to Dr

N. M. Perera Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, commonly known as Dr. N. M. Perera ( Sinhala එන්.එම්.පෙරේරා ; 6 June 1904 – 14 August 1979), was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). He w ...

, who became the leader of the LSSP. Born Selina Margaret Peiris to a wealthy family in

Badulla Badulla (, ; ,) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is located in the southeast of Kandy, almost enci ...

, she was educated in the Catholic Convent school and at the

Musaeus College Musaeus College is a Buddhist private girls' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The school is named after its founding principal, Marie Musaeus Higgins (1855 – 10 July 1926) from Wismar, Germany, who served as the school's principal from 1891 t ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. She entered Colombo University College. After graduating, she became a teacher at the Buddhist Girls’ College in Mount Lavinia and became its first principal. She joined the South Colombo Youth League and became active in local politics after

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 ...

joined the South Colombo Youth League. She was active in the Suriya Mala movement, which in 1933 started a relief program for the

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

that ravage the island leading to over 10,000 deaths in two months. There she met Dr

, who had recently returned from London having completed his doctorate. In 1935, when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was formed, she was a founding member and was elected to its central committee and served as the party treasurer. She married N. M. Perera on 6 March 1936. She assisted in hiding

Mark Anthony Bracegirdle Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle (10 September 1912 – 22 June 1999) was a British-born Australian Marxist revolutionary who played a key role in the Sri Lankan independence movement. He was one of the handful of European Radicals in Sri Lank ...

during the Bracegirdle incident. In 1938, with funding from her father, she enrolled at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

to study Sanskrit and Pali, and graduated in June 1939 with a BA degree in Indo-Aryan Languages with a Lower Second Class Honors. There she came into contact with local Trotskyist groups, briefly staying with

Charlie van Gelderen Charlie van Gelderen (14 August 1913 – 26 October 2001) was a South African Trotskyist active in the British Labour movement from the 1930s. He attended the founding conference of the Fourth International in 1938, and towards the end of his ...

. In 1939, she made her way to the United States linking up with the Socialist Workers Party, in hopes of traveling to Mexico to meet

Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

, but failed due to visa problems. On her return to Ceylon, she rejoined the party and worked on its anti-war movement. In June 1940, several party leaders were arrested including N.M. Perera. LSSP responded with large protest march which was baton charged by the police. Leading the march Selina was arrested and jailed. But she was released soon after. In the next year she led many of the party activities before escaping to India with her husband and worked with the Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma (BLPI). When most of the LSSP members were arrested and deported to Ceylon in July 1943, she with

Vivienne Goonewardena Violet Vivienne Goonewardene (, ; 18 September 19163 October 1996), commonly known as "Vivi", was a Sri Lankan Anti-imperialism, anti-colonial activist and prominent politician, serving as one of the world's first female ministers. A key figure i ...

and Colvin R. de Silva escaped to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. She became disillusioned with the pre-partition politics in India. She opted to stay in India, adopting the name Sheela Perera, making a living as an English teacher until her death in 1986. She returned to Ceylon only once.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Selina 1909 births 1986 deaths Sri Lankan socialists Sri Lankan independence activists Prisoners and detainees of British Ceylon Alumni of Musaeus College Alumni of the University of Ceylon Alumni of SOAS University of London Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Sri Lankan expatriates in India Indian independence activists