Senerat Gunewardene

Ceylon Parliament
for Gampola
Ceylon Parliament; for Gampola
	In office; 1947–1948
Preceded by	Seat created
Succeeded by	R. S. Pelpola
Personal details
Born	3 September 1899; St.Thomas' College, Matara S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
Occupation	Politics, Diplomat
Profession	Advocate

Sir Senerat Gunewardene (also known as Ratnakirti Senerat Serasinghe Gunewardene or R.S.S. Gunewardene) (3 November 1899 – 10 August 1981) was a

Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom.^[1]

Early life and education

Born on 3 November 1899 in Nupe,

District Judge. Educated at St. Thomas' College, Matara and at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, where he was a good friend of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike

.

Teaching career

He had to leave school before completing his schooling due to the death of his father. Returning to Matara, in order to support himself and his family, he became a teacher at

Sri Sumangala College, Panadura

from 1921 to 1922.

Legal career

He started following the advocate's course at the

unofficial bar in Colombo. He was also a founder member and President of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress and was a member of the first board of management of the Colombo Young men's Buddhist Association.^[2]

Political career

Joining the colonial era politics in Ceylon with the establishment of the

chief government whip in parliament. However, he was unseated in parliament in May 1948 in an election petition and was succeeded by A. E. Gunasinha as Minister and government whip. He contested the by-election that followed in Gampola and lost to R. S. Pelpola from the United National Party.^[3]

Diplomatic career

In 1949, he was appointed as Ceylon's Ambassador to Italy where he served until 1954. He was then appointed

Ceylon's High Commissioner to United Kingdom serving till June 1963, when he was reappointed as Permanent Representative to United Nations, serving until 1965. During his time in Washington DC, he established the Buddhist Centre in Washington.^[3]