Ranasinghe Hettiarachchige Tudor Edward Ranasinghe Gunasekara (23 January 1935 – 29 August 2021), known as Tudor Gunasekara ( Sinhala: ටියුඩර් ගුණසේකර), was a Sri Lankan politician and diplomat. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

District Minister A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

for

Gampaha Gampaha (Sinhala: ගම්පහ ; Tamil: கம்பஹா ) is an urban city in Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated to the north-east of the capital Colombo. It is the sixth largest urban area in Western Provinc ...

in President

JR Jayawardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

's government. Later, he served as the first Sri Lanka

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.SL’s first envoy to Poland dies of COVID
Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka), Retrieved 30 August 2021.

Early life

Tudor Gunasekara was born on 23 January 1935 to a well known family in Heiyantuduwa,

Biyagama Biyagama ( si, බියගම, ta, பியகம) is a suburb in Gampaha District, situated in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. It is 12 miles from Colombo. A Free Trade Zone was established in Biyagama in 1985. "Kaduwela" interchange of exp ...

in Sri Lanka. He had his early education at

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. Gunasekara was the second son of William Gunasekara (also known as 'Heiyantuduwa Ralahami') and Eugine née Seneviratne. William Gunasekara was a wealthy landed proprietor and owned fourteen

elephants Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

. One of his elephants was Heiyantuduwa Raja, which carried the

Relic of the tooth of the Buddha The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya relic of Lord Buddha, who is the founder of Buddhism, the fourth largest religion worldwide. History The relic in India According to Sri Lank ...

casket in the

Dalada Perahera The Kandy Esala Perahera (the Sri Dalada Perahara procession of Kandy) also known as The Festival of the Tooth is a festival held in July and August in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred To ...

for several years after the demise of

Maligawa Raja Raja ( si, රාජා ඇතා - Raja Atha) (also known as Maligawa Raja, 1913 - 16 July 1988) was a Sri Lankan tusker elephant belonging to the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy. Raja participated at the annual Esala procession in Kandy for aro ...

. Gunasekara has two brothers, Donald and Henry, as well as three elder sisters, Adeline, Chandra and Chithra.

Political career

Gunasekara entered active politics in Sri Lanka during the late 1960s as 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), ...

Chief Organiser for the Mahara electorate. In the 1970 General Elections, he contested from the United National Party but was defeated. Gunasekara once again contested the 1977

General Elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

and was elected as

for Mahara. In 1978, he was appointed

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Minister for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

's government. He was subsequently appointed

Chief Organiser for the

and

Attanagalla Attanagalla is an electorate in Gampaha District, situated in the Western Province of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ...

Electorates. Consequently, Gunasekara is known to have held the position of chief organiser for the

in three electorates at the same time. In early 1983 Gunasekara resigned as District Minister for Gampaha and as the member for Mahara.

Diplomatic career

In President

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

's government, Gunasekara was appointed the first Sri Lanka

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Poland. Consequently, he also served as the Head of the Sri Lankan Mission to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. During this time, Gunasekara played an important role in promoting

Ceylon tea Ceylon tea is both the brand of tea which is produced in Sri Lanka and a historic term describing tea from that land. Ceylon tea has been described as not only a geographical descriptor but also a pillar of Sri Lankan culture, heritage and ident ...

, tourism and strengthening Sri Lanka's diplomatic relations with Eastern European countries. Gunasekara has been a member of several Sri Lanka Parliamentary Delegations to India, Indonesia, Japan and the United Kingdom to strengthen and promote the country's regional and international relations.

Family life

Photograph of Mr & Mrs Tudor Gunasekara with their only daughter Dayanganie

Gunasekara married Chandra Perera, daughter of Albert and Karuna Perera, in 1962. Albert Perera was the Chairman and Managing Director of City Cabs, one of the leading taxi companies in Sri Lanka in the early 1950 to 1970s. They have two children, Dayanganie and Hiran.

Death

Tudor Gunasekara died on 29 August 2021 at age 86. He had undergone treatment at a private hospital in Colombo after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

.Former Minister Tudor succumbs to Covid-19
Sri Lanka Mirror (Sri Lanka), Retrieved 30 August 2021.

References