Saranankara Udakendavala Thero

Born 1897 in the village of Udakendavala; died Nov. 13, 1966, in Colombo. Public figure of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Saranankara received a religious education. He began his political career as a follower of the reformer Anagirika Dharma-pala, with whom he traveled to India shortly before 1910. In India, Saranankara joined the anti-imperialist movement; he suffered reprisals at the hands of the British colonialists and served time in prison. He returned to Ceylon in the 1930’s and helped found both the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and, in 1943, the Communist Party. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party from 1943.

An active proponent of peace, Saranankara was awarded the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Nations (1957) and was a member of the World Peace Council. He wrote several books and articles on politics and culture and was the publisher of the progressive journal Navalokaya (New World).