Mangala Samaraweera (1956–2021) served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, of Finance, of Media, and of Ports and Shipping across a career spanning three decades.
Trained as a fashion designer in London, he entered Parliament in 1989 representing Matara. As Foreign Minister after 2015 he led the reorientation of Sri Lanka's foreign policy following the war, including co-sponsorship of the 2015 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability and reconciliation — an unusual step for a government to take regarding its own conduct.
He was among the very few senior Sri Lankan politicians to speak publicly in support of the rights of sexual minorities, and to argue consistently against the political use of ethnic and religious division.