Pieter Gerald Bartholomeusz Keuneman (3 October 1917 – 3 January 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician and a Marxist.
He was the Cabinet Minister of Housing and Local Government, a prominent Member of Parliament and a leading figure in the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL).
[1][2] Keuneman was educated at the Royal College, Colombo where he was the head of the junior cadet platoon, prefect, captain of the debating team and president of the literary association.
He gained a BA Tripos in History, Sociology and English Literature and joined the Gray's Inn to study law, leaving without taking his bar examinations.
While at Cambridge he worked briefly for the Daily Express, before leaving for Spain to fight against Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
In that capacity he agitated for better housing, eradication of slums and shanties in the Colombo city and saw to the setting up of libraries and dispensaries.
He contested the first parliamentary elections in 1947 from the Colombo Central constituency and was returned as the third member of parliament obtaining 15,435 votes.