Tudor Gunasekara

Ranasinghe Hettiarachchige Tudor Edward Ranasinghe Gunasekara (known as Tudor Gunasekara) (Sinhala:ටියුඩර් ගුණසේකර) (born 23 January 1935) is a former Sri Lankan politician and diplomat. He was former Member of Parliament, District Minister for Gampaha in President JR Jayawardene's United National Party government. Later, he served as the first Sri Lanka Ambassador to Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.

William & Eugine Gunasekara
(Parents of Tudor Gunasekara)

Tudor Gunasekara was born on 23 January 1935 to a well known family in Heiyantuduwa, Biyagama in Sri Lanka. He had his early education at Ananda College, Colombo. Tudor Gunasekara was the second son of William Gunasekara (also known as 'Heiyantuduwa Ralahami') and Eugine Seneviratne. William Gunasekara was a wealthy landed proprietor and owned fourteen elephants. One of his elephants was Heiyantuduwa Raja, which carried the Relic of the tooth of the Buddha casket in the Dalada Perahera for several years after the demise of Maligawa Raja. Tudor Gunasekara has two brothers, Donald and Henry, as well as three elder sisters, Adeline, Chandra and Chithra.

Ambassador Tudor Gunasekara (left) handing over credentials to Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland (right)

Gunasekara entered active politics in Sri Lanka during the late 1960s as the United National Party Chief Organizer for the Mahara Electorate. In the 1970 General Elections, he contested from the United National Party but was defeated. Gunasekara once again contested in the 1977 General Elections and was elected as Member of Parliament for Mahara Electorate. In 1978, he was appointed as District Minister to Gampaha in President JR Jayawardene's government. He was subsequently appointed as United National Party Chief Organizer for the Gampaha and Attanagalla Electorates too. Consequently, Tudor Gunasekara is known to have held the position of chief organizer for the United National Party in three electorates at the same time.

Tudor 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. Tudor and Chandra Gunasekara have two children, Dayanganie and Hiran.

In President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government, Tudor Gunasekara was appointed as the first Sri Lanka Ambassador 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, tourism and strengthening Sri Lanka's diplomatic relations with Eastern European countries. Tudor Gunasekara has been a member of several Sri Lanka Parliamentary Delegations to India, Indonesia, Japan and UK to strengthen and promote the country's regional and international relations.