Leaders and Important Members
- See List of Members of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.
The LSSP has never had a formal leader. In the period immediately after its formation, Dr Colvin R de Silva was elected President, but the post was done away with later. For many years, NM Perera was the leader of the LSSP Parliamentary Group and was recognised by the public as the party leader. However, the actual leadership has always been that of a group represented in the various bureaux of the Central Committee.
A large proportion of the leadership of the Left in Sri Lanka started their political lives in the LSSP. This is even true of the political right; for example, Esmond Wickremasinghe (the father of Ranil Wickremasinghe) was a leading member of the party - before marrying the daughter of the wealthy press baron D. R Wijewardena and being appointed editor-in-chief of Lake House. W. Dahanayake, the later prime minister, was associated with the LSSP before gravitating right-wards (finally ending up in the UNP).
- Dr S.A. Wickremasinghe
- Philip Gunawardena
- Dr Colvin R de Silva
- Dr N.M. Perera
- Wilmot A. Perera
- Leslie Goonewardena
- Robert Gunewardena
- Edmund Samarakkody
- V. Karalasingham (Carlo)
- Vivienne Goonewardena
- S.C.C. Anthonipillai (Toni)
- Selina Perera
- Mark Anthony Bracegirdle
- Regi Siriwardena
- P. H. William de Silva
- Bernard Soysa
- P.D. Wimalasena
- Hector Abhayavardhana
- Doric De Souza
- G.P. Perera ('Elephant Perera')
- D.G. William ('Galle Face William')
- Cholomondely Goonewardena
- Wilfred Senanayake
- Anil Moonesinghe
- Seneka Bibile
- Osmund Jayaratne
- G.E.H. Perera
- Vasudewa Nanayakkara
- I. J. Wickrema
- Batty Weerakoon
- Tissa Vitarana
- Deshabandu Kalasuri Vishvaprasdini Dr. Tissa Abeysekara
- Carlo Fonseka
- V. S. Rajah ('Raja Sahodaraya')
The names in brackets were the pseudonyms used by V. Karalasingham, and S. C. C. Anthonypillai while underground during the Second World War which continued to be used as nicknames long after they were no longer required for secrecy; and the nicknames given to the trade unionists G. P. Perera and D. G. William, from their original places of work, the Elephant cigarette factory and the Galle Face Hotel.
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