26 Facts About Piyadasa Sirisena

Piyadasa Sirisena was a Ceylonese pioneer novelist, patriot, journalist, temperance worker and independence activist.

Piyadasa Sirisena was the author of some of the bestselling Sinhalese novels in early 20th century.

Piyadasa Sirisena used the novel as a medium through which to reform society and became one of the leaders in mass communication in the early part of the 20th century.

Piyadasa Sirisena is widely considered as the father of Sinhalese novel.

Piyadasa Sirisena was born in 1875, in the countryside village called Athuruwella in Induruwa located three kilometers south of Bentota in Galle District.

Piyadasa Sirisena moved to Colombo after getting employment in a furniture establishment at a younger age.

Piyadasa Sirisena who was inspired by Anagarika Dharmapala, was interested in the movement of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism.

The wide range of Piyadasa Sirisena's skills made him a prolific thinker and writer during the early years of the 20th century.

Piyadasa Sirisena began his career by making contributions to publications of Irvin Gunawardena who was a businessman.

The publication-'Situmina' was first published in 1895 and subsequently Piyadasa Sirisena contributed articles of 'Sarasavi Sandaresa' news paper edited by a leading journalist of that era known as Hemendra Sepala Perera.

Piyadasa Sirisena published the Sinhalese newspaper "Sinhala Jathiya" in 1905.

Piyadasa Sirisena served as the editor of the 'Sinhala Baudhaya' published by the Mahabodhi Society at one time.

Piyadasa Sirisena wrote over twenty novels out of which the first was Jayatissa and Rosalyn.

Piyadasa Sirisena was the first novelist in the country to produce detective stories.

Piyadasa Sirisena wrote five of detective novels and one of them "Dingiri Menika" was made into a highly successful film in the mid 1950s.

Piyadasa Sirisena had to undergo two jail terms during his life time, both after Sinhalese Muslim riots that took place in 1915 and 1918.

Piyadasa Sirisena had written an editorial in his newspaper in which it was alleged that Sirisena had encouraged the people to rise against the government.

Piyadasa Sirisena Sirisana took part as an active protester against liquor and soon became a leading figure of the Ceylonese Temperance movement.

Piyadasa Sirisena used his Sinhala Jathiya newspaper to urge people against the habit of liquor.

Piyadasa Sirisena used his oratorical skills to popularize and move forward their temperance movement, whenever anti-liquor meetings were held in various parts of the country.

Piyadasa Sirisena was a tireless worker who slept only four hours a day.

Piyadasa Sirisena was married to Cecilia and had a family of nine children.

Piyadasa Sirisena was the head of a printing establishment with 40 employees, who all depended on his success as a literary figure.

Piyadasa Sirisena was a skilled writer of both prose and verse in Sinhala and used the novel as a tool of educating the masses.

Piyadasa Sirisena's objective was to raise their awareness of the lost glory of the Sinhalese people.

Piyadasa Sirisena's first novel on a happy marriage with Jayatissa and Rosalin as the main characters was a bestseller by any standard in Sri Lanka.