Patabendi Don Jinadasa Nandasiri Wijeweera (; 14 July 1943 – 13 November 1989, better known by his nom de guerre Rohana Wijeweera, was a Sri Lankan Marxist political activist, revolutionary and the founder of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ). Wijeweera led the party in two unsuccessful insurrections in Sri Lanka, in 1971 and 1987 to 1989. He formed the JVP in 1965, with the intention of replacing the Dominion of Ceylon with a socialist republic. The JVP ideologically supported the Tamil militants, calling it a war for self-determination, but opposed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Following the Indo-Lanka accord, the JVP, with the leadership of Wijeweera and a secondary faction, launched a military and social campaign with the aim of overthrowing the government of Sri Lanka. This included two major insurgencies, in 1971 and 1987–1989. In 1989, the government of Sri Lanka then launched Operation Combine with the intention of killing Wijeweera. While they succeeded, the JVP maintained its identity as a political party and later joined a coalition government. Early life Patabendi Don Jinadasa Nandasiri Wijeweera was born on 14 July 1943 (Bastille Day), to Patabendi Don Andris Wijeweera and Nasi Nona Wickramakalutota, who lived in Kottegoda, a coastal village situated close to Matara in southern Sri Lanka and mostly belonged to the Karava caste hierarchy. The eldest in the family, he had a younger brother Ananda and a younger sister Chitranie. His father, who ran a small business, was an active member of the Ceylon Communist Party and very close to Dr. S. A. Wickramasinghe. He was disabled after an attack by thugs believed to be members of an opposing political party during the 1947 Parliamentary election campaign for the Hakmana electorate candidate Premalal Kumarasiri. Don Andris Wijeweera died in 1965. Education Wijeweera had his primary education at Goda Uda Government School in Kottegoda from 1947 to 1953. In 1954 he entered Goda Uda Government Senior School and was there until mid-1959. He entered Ambalangoda Dharmashoka College in July 1959 to study GCE Ordinary Level in the science stream. Although he passed the exam, gaining credit grades for some subjects, he was not able to continue his studies due to limited family finances. Having become active in the communist party, he applied and gained a scholarship to attend the Lumumba University to study medicine and in September 1960 he went to the Soviet Union. He completed