# List of alumni of Ananda College

This is a list of Anandians, alumni of the Ananda College, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

## Heads of state

* Gotabaya Rajapaksa - 7th President of Sri Lanka

## Heads of government

* Ratnasiri Wickremanayake - Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (2000—2001, 2005—2010)

## National politics
### Heads of legislature

| Name | Notability | Reference(s) |
| Anandatissa de Alwis | Speaker of the National State Assembly of Sri Lanka (1977—1978), Government Minister | |
| Karu Jayasuriya | Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (2015—2020), Government Minister, former Ambassador to Germany | |

### Ministers and legislators
#### Current
##### Government benches

| Name | Notability |
| Dullas Alahapperuma | Government Minister, Member of Parliament |
| Tissa Vitharana | Member of Parliament, Leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Professor of Microbiology |
| R. M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara | Minister of Public Administration and Management, Member of Parliament |
| Daya Gamage | Minister of Primary Industry, Member of Parliament |
| Mohan Lal Grero, MP | State Minister of University Education, Member of Parliament, educationists |
| Achala Jagodage | Member of Parliament |
| Ashu Marasinghe | Member of Parliament |
| Ajith Perera | Deputy Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, Member of Parliament |
| Arjuna Ranatunga | Cabinet Minister of Ports and Shipping, Member of Parliament, former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team |
| Rajitha Senaratne | Cabinet Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine, Dental surgeon |

##### Opposition benches

| Name | Notability |
| P. Dayaratna | Member of Parliament for Ampara (1989-present) |
| Gitanjana Gunawardena | Member of Parliament |
| Nalaka Godahewa | Member of Parliament for Gampaha (2020-present) |
| Pradeep Undugoda | Member of Parliament for Colombo (2020-present) |

### Former

* Ossie Abeygunasekara – former leader of Sri Lanka Mahajana Party
* Thomas Amarasuriya – former Member of the State Council of Ceylon; President of the Senate of Ceylon
* D. P. Atapattu – former Member of Parliament for Beliatte, Secretary to the Minister of State, 1965–70
* R. M. Dharmadasa Banda – ex minister of Agriculture
* Rohitha Bogollagama – former minister of Foreign Affairs; former Member of Parliament
* General Sarath Fonseka – leader of Democratic Party; former Member of Parliament
* Tudor Gunasekara – former Member of Parliament for Mahara Electorate, District Minister for Gampaha; first Sri Lankan Ambassador to Poland, Bulgaria and Romania (note: also listed in "Diplomats")
* Philip Gunawardena – served as Minister of Agriculture in 1956 Cabinet; Minister of Fisheries
* Indradasa Hettiarachchi – former Minister of Industries
* I. M. R. A. Iriyagolla – former Minister of Education
* D. D. Athulathmudali – former Senator
* Prins Gunasekera – former Member of the Parliament
* Lakshman Jayakody – former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister; Presidential advisor
* V. G. W. Ratnayake – former Sri Lankan MP
* P. B. G. Kalugalla – former Minister of Finance
* Wickremabahu Karunaratne – leader of the Nava Lanka Samasamaja Party; served as a Provincial Councillor representing Colombo District
* P. Kumarasiri- former Member of the Parliament
* Sanjeewa Kavirathna – former Member of Parliament; Member of Central Provincial council; Sri Lanka's first Green Awarded politician
* Weerasinghe Mallimarachchi – former Colombo District Minister; Member of Parliament (Kolonnawa)
* Imthiaz Bakeer Markar – former Cabinet Minister of Media, Postal and Telecommunications
* V. Navaratnam – former Member of Parliament
* Herbert Sri Nissanka – former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* C. E. Attygalle – former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* N. M. Perera – founder and leader of LSSP; former Minister of Finance
* Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra – former Member of Parliament
* V. Karalasingham – former lawyer, writer; politician
* Basil Rajapaksa – former Minister of Economic Development; Member of Parliament
* Prins Gunasekera former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* Suranimala Rajapaksha – former Minister of School Education
* Lalitha Rajapakse – former Minister of Justice of Ceylon, elected Member of the Senate of Ceylon; former Sri Lankan Ambassador to France; High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
* N. R. Rajavarothiam – Ceylon Tamil politician; former Member of Parliament
* Bimal Rathnayaka – former Member of Parliament
* Dharmasiri Senanayake – former Cabinet Minister of Media, Tourism and Civil Aviation; General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
* William de Silva – former Cabinet Minister of Industries and Fisheries; former Ceylon High Commissioner to Canada
* T. B. Subasinghe – former Speaker of the Parliament; Cabinet Minister of Industries and Scientific Affairs
* Dingiri Bandara Welagedara – former Cabinet Minister of Plan Implementation; former Governor of North Central Province
* S. A. Wickramasinghe – former senator; founder of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka
* V. Yogeswaran – former Member of Parliament
* S. K. K. Suriarachchi - former Member of Sri Lankan Parliament
* G. K. W. Perera - Former Member of the Ceylon State Council
* K. D. David Perera - Former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* Siri Andrahennady - Former Member of the Sri Lankan parliament
* Bernard Soysa - Former Member of the Sri Lankan parliament
* Noel Wimalasena - Former Member of the Sri Lankan parliament
* Piyasena Tennakoon - Former Member of the Sri Lankan parliament
* V. G. W. Ratnayake - Former Member of the Sri Lankan parliament
* C. E. Attygalle - Former Member of the Sri Lankan parliament
* S. A. Peeris - Former Member of the Sri Lankan parliament
* Noel Wimalasena - Former Member of the Sri Lankan parliament from Kandy District
* G. K. W. Perera - Former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* Sanjeeva Kaviratne - Former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* Dayasena Pasqual - Former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* K. D. David Perera - Former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* Noel Wimalasena - Former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
* J. D. Weerasekera - Former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament

## Judiciary
### Chief justice

* G. P. S. de Silva - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
* Arthur Wijewardena - Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

### Puisne justice of the Supreme Court

* Chan Htoon - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Burma, Attorney General of Burma, architect of the first Constitution of Burma in 1947
* V. Sivasubramaniam - Former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
* J. F. A. Soza - Former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
* P. Sriskandarajah - Former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
* Yasantha Kodagoda - Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, former President of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka

## Provincial and local government

| Name | Notability |
| Anandatissa de Alwis | former Governor of North-Western Province |
| V. M. Panchalingam | former District Secretary for Jaffna |
| Ratnasiri Rajapakse | Mayor of Colombo (1991-1996), Municipal Councillor |

## Diplomats

| Name | Notability |
| J. B. Disanayake | linguist, Head of the Department of Sinhala, University of Colombo, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand |
| Tudor Gunasekara | former Member of Parliament for Mahara Electorate, District Minister for Gampaha; first Sri Lankan Ambassador to Poland, Bulgaria and Romania |
| Karu Jayasuriya | former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Germany |
| Wasantha Karannagoda | Sri Lankan Ambassador to Japan, Secretary Ministry of Highways and Road Development, National Security Adviser, Commander of the Navy |
| Lalitha Rajapakse | Ambassador to France; High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
| Warnasena Rasaputra | former Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States of America, France and Geneva |
| Gunasena de Soyza | former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |

## Armed forces
### Army

| Name | Rank | Notability |
| Sarath Fonseka | Field Marshal | Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka Armed Forces (2009), Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (2005–2009) |
| L. P. Balagalle | General | Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka Armed Forces (2004–2005), Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (2000–2004) |
| Hamilton Wanasinghe | General | Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1988-1991) |
| Rohan Daluwatte | General | Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1996–1998) |
| Mahesh Senanayake | General | Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (2017-2019) |
| Sanjaya Wanasinghe | Major General | Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Armed Forces (July 2023 - Oct 2023) |
| Lakshman Algama | Major General | former Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army, former Commander of the Security Forces – Headquarters East (SF HQ (E)) |
| Duleep Wickramanayake | Major General | former Commander of the Security Forces – Headquarters East (SF HQ (E)) |
| Nanda Mallawaarachchi | Major General | former Chief of Staff of Sri Lankan Army |
| Jagath Dias | Major General | former Commander 57th division of Sri Lankan Army, former Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army |
| Kamal Gunaratne | Major General | former Commander 53rd division of Sri Lankan Army, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence |
| Gratian Silva | Major General | |
| Prasanna De Silva | Major General | former Commander 56th division, Special Forces Regiment, and Army Commando Regiment of Sri Lankan Army |
| Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Lieutenant Colonel | |
| A. P. N. C. De S. Vaas Gunawardene † | Second Lieutenant | first Sri Lankan commissioned officer to be killed in action in Sri Lankan Civil War |

### Navy

| Name | Rank | Notability | Reference(s) |
| Wasantha Karannagoda | Admiral of the Fleet | Commander of the Navy (2005–2009) | |
| Sarath Weerasekara | Rear Admiral | Chief of Staff of the Navy, first Director General of the Civil Security Force | |

### Air force

| Name | Rank | Notability | Reference(s) |
| R. A. U. P. Rajapaksa | Air Vice Marshal | Air Force Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force, Sri Lanka Air Force | |

## Police

| Name | Notability |
| Osmund de Silva | Inspector-General of Police (1955–1959) |
| Mahinda Balasuriya | Inspector-General of Police (2009–2011) |
| M. Walter F. Abeykoon | Inspector-General of Police (1951–1953) |
| Sumith Liyanage | Deputy Inspector General of Police, 1960 national featherweight champion, 1960 Olympic Games competitor |

## Academics

| Name | Notability |
| K. D. Arulpragasam | First Vice Chancellor of Eastern University |
| Charles Dahanayake | Author, Professor of Physics, Dean - Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya |
| Chandre Dharma-wardana | Scientist, Professor in Theoretical Physics Université de Montréal |
| D. Shelton A. Gunaratne | Professor of Mass Communications Emeritus affiliated with Minnesota State University Moorhead |
| Saman Halgamuge | Professor of Engineering and AI, University of Melbourne |
| Sampath Amaratunge | Professor of Economics, Chairman of University Grants Commission (Sri Lanka) |
| W. S. Karunaratne | Professor in Buddhist Philosophy and Comparative Religion at Peradeniya University; Dean of the Faculty of Arts; member of Board of Regents of University of Sri Lanka |
| Wickremabahu Karunaratne | Lecturer of Electronics at Peradeniya University; Leader of Nava Samsamaja Party |
| Chandratne Patuwathavithane | Former Professor of Engineering; Vice Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa |
| Vicumpriya Perera | Professor of Mathematics, Kent State University |
| Bogoda Premaratne | Author, Former Principal of Royal College, Colombo |
| Sunanda Mahendra | Author, Professor of Mass Communication, University of Kelaniya |
| Nimal Rajapakshe | Dean - Faculty of Applied Sciences Simon Fraser University, Canada; Vice-President (Research and International), Carleton University, Canada |
| M. P. Ranaweera | Professor of Civil Engineering; Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya |
| V. K. Samaranayake | Professor of Computer Science; Former Dean of the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo |
| Karu Esselle | Professor, School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Australia |
| Suwanda H. J. Sugunasiri | Professor of Theology University of Toronto |
| L. H. Sumanadasa | Aviator; Engineer; Educator; Former Vice Chancellor University of Ceylon; Founder of the University of Moratuwa |
| Stanley Wijesundera | Former Professor of Chemistry; Vice Chancellor University of Colombo |
| Sumedha Chandana Wirasinghe | Professor of Civil Engineering; Founding Dean (Emeritus) Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary |
| G. M. Heenilame | Founder of North Colombo Medical College |
| J. B. Disanayake | Linguist, Head of the Department of Sinhala, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo |
| Don William Rajapatirana | 3rd Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka |
| Warnasena Rasaputra | Economist, 7th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka |
| Nandalal Weerasinghe | Economist, 17th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka |

## Medicine

| Name | Notability |
| Ravindra Fernando | Professor of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo |
| Harendra de Silva | Professor of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya |
| G. M. Heenilame | founder of North Colombo Medical College, University of Kelaniya |
| Tissa Vitharana | Professor of Microbiology |
| Anil Jasinghe | Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health |

## Legal

| Name | Notability |
| Shiva Pasupati | Former Attorney General of Sri Lanka |
| Yuwanjana Wijayatilake | Former Attorney General of Sri Lanka |
| Ye Htoon | Burmese Lawyer, Entrepreneur |

## Corporate

| Name | Notability |
| Nalaka Godahewa | Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism; Former Managing Director of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation |
| Thilan Wijesinghe | Former Chief of Board of Investment (Sri Lanka); Chief Executive Officer Forbes and Walker Ltd |
| Sandun Wijemanne Nissanka | Music & Tech Entrepreneur. Current Group CEO of the music distribution franchise, Bonfire Distribution Inc. |

## Sports

| Name | Notability |
| Arjuna Ranatunga | International cricket player (1982–2000); captain (1988–2000); Member of Parliament (Colombo (2001–10), Kalutara (2010–15), Gampaha (2015–present)) |
| Marvan Atapattu | International cricket player (1990–2007) |
| Dinesh Chandimal | International cricket player (2010–present); captain (2017-–present) |
| Akalanka Ganegama | One Day International cricket player (2001–06) |
| Anurudda Polonowita | One Day International cricket player (2001–06) |
| Avishka Gunawardene | International cricket player (1998–2005) |
| Chandika Hathurusingha | International cricket player (1991–1999) |
| Dinuka Hettiarachchi | International cricket player (2001) |
| Udara Jayasundera | International cricket player (2015) |
| Thilina Kandamby | One Day International cricket player (2004–2011) |
| Brendon Kuruppu | International cricket player (1987–1991) |
| Muthumudalige Pushpakumara | One Day International cricket player (2009–10) |
| Daya Rajasinghe Nadarajasingham | Olympic rifle shooter (1972, 1988) |
| Dammika Ranatunga | International cricket player (1989) |
| Nishantha Ranatunga | One Day International cricket player (1993) |
| Sanjeeva Ranatunga | International cricket player (1994–98) |
| Dulip Samaraweera | International cricket player (1993–95) |
| Thilan Samaraweera | International cricket player (2001–13) |
| Charith Senanayake | International cricket player (1991) |
| Sachithra Senanayake | International cricket player (2013) |
| Ajit de Silva | International cricket player (1982) |
| Mahela Udawatte | International cricket player (2018) |
| Dhansiri Weerasinghe | First-class cricket player (1958–1965) |
| Sanjeewa Weerasinghe | International cricket player (1985) |
| Mithra Wettimuny | International cricket player (1983) |
| Sidath Wettimuny | International cricket player (1982–87) |
| Sunil Wettimuny | One Day International cricket player (1975–79) |
| Hemantha Wickramaratne | One Day International cricket player (1993) |
| Sarath Wimalaratne | First-class cricket player (1965–68) |
| Shammu Ashan | First-class cricket player (2016) |
| Priya Munasinghe | Motor Racer; former Secretary of Sri Lanka Association of Sri Lanka |

## Engineers

| Name | Notability |
| B. D. Rampala | Former General Manager of Ceylon Railways |
| L. H. Sumanadasa | Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ceylon; founder of the University of Moratuwa |
| R. G. de S. Wettimuny | Buddhist writer; chartered engineer (mechanical and civil) |
| D. J. Wimalasurendra | Pioneer of hydro power in Sri Lanka |

## Media

| Name | Notability |
| Titus Thotawatte | former head of the children's programmes unit of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation |
| Nishantha Ranatunga | CEO of CSN TV |
| Bandula Padmakumara | Sri Lankan journalist, writer, former Lake House chairman |
| Premil Ratnayake | Journalist (Lake House); writer; diplomat; former First Secretary (Press and Information) |
| Regi Siriwardena | Journalist, poet, writer, playwright |
| Tarzie Vittachi | Journalist; former UNICEF Deputy Executive Director of External Relations |

## Arts

| Name | Notability |
| Premakeerthi De Alwis | Composer; narrator |
| Tissa Devendra | Author |
| Malaka Dewapriya | Video artist; short filmmaker |
| K. A. W. Perera | Director, producer, Screenplay writer |
| Premil Ratnayake | Author; journalist |
| W. B. Makuloluwa | Author; director |
| Lucky Dias | Actor |
| Dayananda Gunawardena | Playwright; actor; lyricist; radio play producer |
| Piyadasa Gunasekera | Film actor |
| Nalaka Gunawardene | Journalist |
| Bathiya Jaykody | Singer |
| Kasun Kalhara | Music director, singer, composer |
| Indrachapa Liyanage | Singer |
| P. G. Punchihewa | Author; Civil Servant |
| Sathish Perera | Singer |
| Sunanda Mahendra | Author; critic |
| D. B. Nihalsinghe | Film director; founding CEO / General Manager of the State Film Corporation pioneer of Sri Lankan television production |
| G. B. Senanayake | Author |
| Titus Thotawatte | Film director |
| Meemana Premathilake | Poet, Journalist, Author |
| C. G. Uragoda | Physician; author; folklorist; historian; conservationist |
| Wijeratne Warakagoda | Actor |
| Jagath Wickramasinghe | Singer |
| Thusitha Laknath | Actor |
| Jayatilleke De Silva | Author; Journalist |
| Dudley Wanaguru | Actor |
| Saumya Liyanage | Actor, Dean - Faculty of Graduate Studies University of the Visual and Performing Arts |
| Asoka Ponnamperuma | Actor |
| Sajitha Anthony | Film and TV actor |
| Ranjith Kumara | Film journalist and editor |

## Religion

| Name | Notability | Reference(s) |
| Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero | Writer, Buddhist Scholar | |
| Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa | Theosophist, Author, Buddhist Scholar | |