Iranganiís family name is Meedeniya. The name originates from her grandfatherís birthplace as is the traditional Kandyan practice. Irangani has a rather puissant claim to fame when one retraces her ancestry. Her great great great grandfather on her fatherís side was the Kandyan ambassador to Battavia while the Dutch were occupying the lowlands of Ceylon. He was part of the delegation that brought the uppasampadha (of great significance to Buddhism in Sri Lanka) back from Thailand during the reign of Kirthi Sri Rajasinha.

An amusing tale is how Iranganiís grandparents on her fatherís side, got married. Her grandfather, a Buddhist, and her Christian grandmother had never set eyes on each other prior to their wedding day. ìIn those days, women wore stockings especially for a special event. One day, my grandmotherís brother asked her to wear white stockings instead of her customary black ones, and was given a set of clothes to dress in. She didnít understand why but did not question him. She was then taken to the church where my rather confused grandfather had also been brought, and they were married. But they lived so harmoniously together. She played the harmonium at the Avissawella church and we often sang hymns with her. The Buddhist priest would visit their home daily as well. There was no animosity nor problems. We learnt our first lessons in religious tolerance through them,î she relates.

Irangani and her siblings maintained a close and open relationship with her broad-minded parents who, despite being shaken by their ideologies, had regular intellectual debates especially once she became a member of the Communist Party.
After being educated at St Thomasí College and Trinity College, Iranganiís father, Joseph Hercules Meedeniya, was sent to Oxford University in England for his tertiary education where he began studying Classics. However he was hauled back to Sri Lanka prematurely by his parents for the First World War broke out. He died of cardiac arrest the year that Irangani entered university.

Much of Iranganiís independence may have come from her mother, Violet Ellawalla who was a modern woman for her time. She was the first ever woman to drive a car in Sri Lanka. Irangani herself still drives to and from her holiday home in Belihul Oya. ìI always did it so it never occurred to me that I should find a driver. I think that if I can drive in Colombo, I can definitely drive to Belihul Oya and back,î she rationalizes. Her mother passed away in 1971.

Irangani recounts that her elder sister Indrani was always the more conventional one. She married a doctor who later became the UNP Member of Parliament (MP) for Eheliyagoda. He died a few years ago but she continues to live in Kiriella. Her younger sister Kamini is married to Dr Tissa Vitarana, Professor in Microbiology who is an earnest member of the LSSP. She is  a zoologist, and is a keen and very active environmentalist. Her brother Mahinda is a retired planter and lives in the ancestral home in Ruwanwella.

ìI always told mummy that she is truly blessed because all her children and the in-laws, who despite holding totally opposing political and religious views, are all united and will never quarrel and fall out over such things as property or wealth. If one is in trouble, the other will always help,î says Irangani. They still have regular family ëget togethersí involving relating entertaining family anecdotes and dancing till the wee hours of  the morning!



Politics was a common topic in Iranganiís home and her family was teeming with politicians. It starts with her grandfather John Henry Meedeniya (who was an Adigar). He never wanted to enter politics but was pushed into it as the representative of the Kandyans in the then Legislative Council. After he died, his daughter Adeline became the first woman member of the Legislative Council. Her husband Sir Francis Molamure was the first Speaker of Parliament.

The mother of the first woman in the world to become Prime Minister ñ Sirimavo Bandaranaike's mother was Iranganiís motherís double first cousin. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are her niece and nephew. The latter is my fatherís sister Rubyís grandson. She married D R Wijewardene who started the Lake House Group of Newspapers, and was very influential in lobbying for the Independence of Ceylon.

Iranganiís brother-in-law Dr Leonard Kiriella became MP for Eheliyagoda and her other brother-in-law, Dr Tissa Vitarana, a nephew of Dr N M Perera, contested the Ruwanwella seat. Iranganiís sister Karmani (married to Dr Tissa Vitarana) contested the Ratnapura seat. Numerous other relatives such as Nanda Ellawala, Mallika and Clifford Ratwatte, Harindra Dunuwille (all first cousins) have been politically involved as MPs.

Naturally Irangani and her siblings were constantly exposed to all the leading politicians of the day. Being interested in Marxism, her sister Karmani and she  were always in the company of the members of the Communist Party and the Samasamaja Party, often joining in their activities. She has many a time been asked to contest a seat but this quiet celebrity shudders at the thought. She explains, ìI love my privacy too much. I prefer to try to save the wilderness. But that again is politics.î However having illustrious or noble (or ignoble) ancestors or relatives does not entitle one to claim those qualities for  oneself. It is only one's own deeds, words, behaviour etc which should put one into these prominent categories