Kusumasiri Gunawardena

Kusumasiri Gunawardena (neé Amarasinghe) (1912-1985) was a Ceylonese politician.

Kusumasiri was born in Medaketiya (Tangalle) in 1912, the daughter of Don Davith Amarasinghe. She was educated at Musaeus College, Colombo. She later participated in the Suriya Mal movement and joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.

In 1939 she married Philip Gunawardena, one of the founders of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. During the Second World War, when her husband escaped from detention in Ceylon to India, she followed in disguise. They were both later arrested by Indian police in 1943 and after several months deported back to Ceylon.

In 1947 Phillip was elected at 1st parliamentary election as the member for Avissawella, representing the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. In 1948 however he was dismissed from parliament due to his involvement in the General Strike in 1947, losing his civic rights for seven years. He was replaced by Kusumasiri, who was elected unopposed in the 1948 by election. She retained the seat at the 2nd parliamentary elections in 1952, representing the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party. She did not contest the seat of Avissawella following 1956 parliamentary elections in favour of her husband, instead she ran for the seat of Kiriella Electoral District, where she was duely elected.

Her son, Dinesh, is also a member of parliament, representing the Colombo Electoral District, and is the current leader of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP).