19 Facts About Martin Wickramasinghe

Lama Hewage Don Martin Wickramasinghe, was a Sri Lankan journalist and author.

Martin Wickramasinghe's books have been translated into several different languages.

Martin Wickramasinghe is often acclaimed as the father of modern Sinhala literature.

At the age of five Wickramasinghe was taught the Sinhala alphabet, at home and in the village temple, by a monk, Andiris Gurunnanse.

Martin Wickramasinghe learned the Devanagari script and could recite by memory long sections of the Hitopadesa.

Martin Wickramasinghe then became a book-keeper at Cornelis Silva's shop in Batticaloa.

In 1916, Martin Wickramasinghe starts to write to the Sinhala daily Dinamina under the penname Hethu Vaadi and pens a controversial series called "Plants and Animals".

Martin Wickramasinghe followed Gamperaliya with Yuganthaya and Kaliyugaya forming a trilogy.

Martin Wickramasinghe was appointed a member of the Radio Broadcasting Commission in 1953 and in 1954 was appointed to the National Languages Commission, from which he resigned three months later.

Martin Wickramasinghe was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1953 Coronation Honours with the ensign awarded by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in person during her Royal Visit to Ceylon in 1954.

Martin Wickramasinghe was an early practitioner of the genre of poetry called nisandas, which ignored the restrictions placed on poetry by the traditional prosodic patterns.

Martin Wickramasinghe accused Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Gunadasa Amarasekara and others of imitating "decadent" western and post-war Japanese literature and of supporting a nihilistic look on life with cynical disregard for national tradition.

Martin Wickramasinghe visited Cuba on the invitation of the Cuban Government in 1968.

In 1973, Martin Wickramasinghe wrote a new biography of Buddha titled Bava Taranaya.

Martin Wickramasinghe died on 23 July 1976 and his home is a folk museum.

Martin Wickramasinghe married Kataluwe Balage Prema de Silva on 30 November 1925.

Martin Wickramasinghe built himself a house Samudrasanna Road, Mount-Lavinia in 1939.

Martin Wickramasinghe Trust is an approved by the Government of Sri Lanka as a charitable organization.

The Martin Wickramasinghe Trust has been established with the objectives of preservation of manuscripts, first editions of all his books, tape recording and photographs related to his life and work.