10 Facts About Leslie Gunawardana

Ranaweera Appuhamilage Leslie Herbert Gunawardana was a Sri Lankan historian, academic, politician and government minister.

Leslie Gunawardana received a PhD degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1965 for his research, guided by Arthur Llewellyn Basham and Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis, on Buddhist monastic institutions in Ceylon during the early medieval period.

Leslie Gunawardana's thesis was published by the University of Arizona Press in 1979 under the title Robe and Plough: Monasticism and Economic Interest in Early Medieval Sri Lanka.

Leslie Gunawardana joined the faculty of the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1960 as an assistant lecturer in the Department of History.

Leslie Gunawardana served as chairman of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Leslie Gunawardana was a long-standing member of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, having joined in 1960.

Leslie Gunawardana was appointed as one of the People's Alliance's National List MP in the Sri Lankan Parliament following the 2000 parliamentary election.

Leslie Gunawardana was appointed Minister of Science and Technology after the election.

Leslie Gunawardana lost his ministerial position in September 2001 following a cabinet reshuffle.

Leslie Gunawardana died on 16 November 2010 following a prolonged illness.