Blackwell Reference Online

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The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), formed in 1935, was the first broad-based anti-imperialist and socialist political party in Ceylon, officially renamed Sri Lanka in 1972. During the colonial era, the LSSP was at the vanguard in the fight for independence from Britain. Starting in 1940, the LSSP was affiliated to the Fourth International, launched by Leon Trotsky as an alternative to the Soviet Third International (Comintern). At its pinnacle, in the late 1940s and 1950s, the LSSP had a mass following, a large trade union base, and led the opposition in parliament. For nearly a quarter-century the LSSP was arguably the largest and most successful section of the Fourth International. The LSSP was founded, shaped, and directed by Philip Gunawardena (1901–72), a dynamic and charismatic Trotskyist, who turned toward socialism as a student in the US from 1922 to 1928. After moving to London, he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain. In 1930 he came into contact with Trotskyists in London and became a supporter of the persecuted Left Opposition in the USSR. Given the Stalinist armed campaign against Trotskyism, Gunawardena functioned as a secret Trotskyist within the British Communist Party. Assigned to work with students from various British colonies, he secretly recruited a circle of talented young Marxists, including Colvin de Silva (1907–89), Leslie Goonewardene (1909–83), ... log in or subscribe to read full text