Violet Vivienne Goonewardene[Notes 1] (Sinhala: වයලට් විවියන් ගුණවර්ධන, Tamil: வயலட் விவியென் கூனவர்தன; 18 September 1916 – 3 October 1996), commonly known as "Vivi", was a Sri Lankan anti-colonial activist and prominent politician, serving as one of the world's first female ministers.

[2] Born into an affluent family to a pro-monarchy conservative, while at secondary school, Goonewardene became involved in the anti-imperialist Suriya-Mal Movement, fighting against perceived injustices.

Despite being disallowed by her father from pursuing higher education, her maternal uncles, Philip and Robert Gunawardena, helped her attend University, where she was often involved in activism.

Through this, Goonewardene attempted to reform the former British colony of Ceylon into a socialist republic by nationalising organisations in the banking, education, industry, media, and trade sectors.

[3] She was the eldest of five children born to Dr. Don Allenson Goonetilleke, a pro-monarchy conservative who believed in the continuous British rule of Ceylon, and his wife Emily Angeline Gunawardena.

[9][10] Goonewardene's maternal grandfather, Don Jakolis Rupasinghe Gunawardena, was a wealthy landowner having served as the village headman under colonial governance.

[12] He was a leader in the Buddhist revival of the early 20th Century and was one of those incarcerated by the Governor General, Robert Chalmers, under the pretext of involvement in the Sinhala-Muslim riots of 1915.

[13][14][15] Ralahamy was sentenced to death, in part as an attempt by Chalmers to eliminate regional nationalistic leaders and to suppress a possible independence movement from springing out of the disturbances.

[16][17][15] This sentence was later reprieved by the Governor General following a public outcry, yet led to Ralahamy's strengthened disapproval of British rule; one which was projected onto Vivienne.

[28] Vivienne did go further, leading fellow students to place their boxes of instruments atop the blackboards and at 11.00 a.m. to topple these, with the subsequent noise masking that of the ceremonial gun salute.

A drought caused a shortage of rice, estimated at 3 million bushels;[29] floods, from October onwards; and a malaria epidemic, affecting 1,000,000 people with at least 125,000 deaths, which continued through 1935, heavily effected the poor.

de Haan began with the words "I hope ladies and gentlemen that you will not be misled by the childish arguments of Mr. Horace Perera and his little supporter in rompers."

[67] She was kept a virtual prisoner at home, and Goonewardene was forced to file a habeas corpus writ, a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court, to get her released.

[71][72] This support led to the party's re-establishment underground, a necessary move due to its vocal anti-war stance, opposing the British war effort.

[76] Through discussion, the Indian and Ceylonese Trotskyists led by Leslie established a preliminary committee for the formation of the Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma (BLPI for short).

[85] Initially, during World War II, the Goonewardene-led BLPI remained relatively small—a large contrast to the high expectations of a subcontinent-wide political revolutionary party.

[108] Mrs. Vivienne Goonewardene moved that the Medical Officers of the Minicipal Council should be requested to hold regular inspection of children of pre-school age in shanty town housing schemes at least once in three months in view of the very high child mortality in the city."

[108] While a councillor, she fought for the rights of the dead – notably in terms of burial facilities, as well as taking issue with the high levels of child mortality in shanty towns.

[134][135] In 1964, while the Sri Lanka Freedom Party leftist coalition was in power, Goonewardene demanded parity of status for state employees and CMC workers.

[141][142][143] At the 1952 general election, the electoral performance was harmed by the relative prosperity due to the price of natural rubber being driven up by the Korean War.

[108] In 1956 the LSSP went into a no-contest pact with the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) of SWRD Bandaranaike, which he had formed with Philip Gunawardena and the VLSSP.

[174] In July 1959, both LSSP and the Communist Party withdrew their support for the government, as inner-party feuds within the SLFP had resulted in a temporary victory for the right-wing and expulsions of leftist ministers like Philip Gunawardena.

[177][178] The votes won by the LSSP, the Communists and the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (a new party, not the 1956 front) of Philip Gunawardena, were sufficient to have made them the biggest bloc in Parliament.

[179][180] Elections were held again in July and the LSSP had a no-contest pact with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, which was thus able to form a government.

In her concession speech, Kamala wrote about Vivienne: "She played a role of a friend in need, in the hour of my despair and gradually matured into my most formidable opponent."

[191] Through this, the party, led by Goonewardene, attempted to reform the former British Colony of Ceylon into a socialist republic by nationalising organisations in the banking, education, industry, media, and trade sectors.

[197] Later in 1964, the LSSP, with the exception of Leslie and Colvin de Silva, led a coalition with Sirimavo Bandaranaike, allowing her to become the first female prime minister in modern world history.

[198] This principal change led to the LSSP being expelled from the Fourth International, with the Revolutionary Lanka Sama Samaja Party taking its place.

As part of political delegations, she met with and knew well Jawaharlal Nehru, V. K. Krishna Menon, Josip Broz Tito, and was friends with Gamal Abdel Nasser.

[108] Vivienne died on 3 October in Colombo in 1996 following a heart attack few months before her 80th birthday celebrations which saw guests ranging from multiple past and present Sri Lankan presidents and Prime ministers, alongside an envoy from Cuba.