WAsanga Abeyagoonasekera is an Sri Lankan academic, geopolitics and foreign policy analyst. He is a political columnist and author. He is a visiting professor for geopolitics and global leadership at Northern Kentucky University and a visiting lecturer in International Political Economy for University of London in Sri Lanka Royal Institute of Colombo and teach International Security at University of Colombo. Asanga has more than a decade of experience in Government Administration, serving as the head of several Government Institutions to positions at the board level. Asanga writes the monthly column Dateline Colombo for IPCS think tank in New Delhi.
WDeshanabu Tissa Ananda Abeysekara was a Sri Lankan filmmaker, actor, writer, director, screen playwright and political activist. He is better known as a script writer for the cinema as well as a film director. In 1996, his book Bringing Tony Home won the prestigious Gratiaen Prize for the new creative writing in English. He was the chief coordinator of FOSWAL in Sri Lanka and honoured awardee of SAARC Literary Award.
WKalutara Koralalage Edward Winifred Brito Adikaram was an educationalist, writer, social activist and a Philosopher in Sri Lanka. In 1931 he obtained an M.A degree from London School of Oriental Studies and in 1933 a PhD on the thesis "Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon". After returning to Sri Lanka he started to teach in Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte and in 1934, he became the principal of the school. He was a prominent nonviolence activist in Sri Lanka.
WKalasuri Arisen Ahubudu was a writer, orator, scholar, playwright, teacher (Guru), Sinhala lyricist, author and poet in Sri Lanka, born in Mudiyallagahawatta in Malalaga, Koggala. He is a member of the Hela Havula. He has received three government awards for literary works, the title of Kalasuri from the Government of Sri Lanka, and the Sarasaviya Awards film award for best composer. As a composer, he is especially noted for writing music performed by W.D. Amaradeva, such as Gilem Obe Guna.
WNihal Sri Ameresekere is a Sri Lankan professional & litigation support consultant, author on fraud and corruption and public interest activist.
WSarath Leelananda Bandara Amunugama, MP, SLAS is a Sri Lankan politician and civil servant. He was the Cabinet Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning until April 2010. He is a Member of Parliament from the Kandy District for the United People's Freedom Alliance in the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
WSenarath Liyana Arachchi is an astrologer, palmist, author, guest and commentator on radio and television, in Sri Lanka.
WJayatilleke de Silva was a Sri Lankan author, translator, journalist, a left political and a civil society activist.
WNirmal Ranjith Dewasiri (Sinhala: ආචාර්ය නිර්මාල් රංජිත් දේවසිරි ) born on 18 October 1965 is Senior Lecturer of the department of history at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Currently he is the head of Department. He specialises in social transformation in agrarian societies, history and ideology, European colonialism in Asia, post-colonial state-building, and ethno-nationalism.
WK. Sri Dhammananda was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and scholar.
WDaya Dissanayake is a bilingual Sri Lankan novelist, poet and blogger. His work spans a critical study of king Ashoka, nine novels in English, six novels in Sinhala and a collection of poems, and numerous articles in newspapers, journals and magazines. He is the author of the first e-novel in Asia, 'The Saadhu Testament' (1998), and the first e-novel in Sinhala, 'Vessan Novu Wedun' (2003). His first nonfiction work is "Who is Ashoka?" He is the only Sri Lankan writer to receive the Sri Lankan State Literary Award for the best English novel three times and was awarded the SAARC Literary Award in 2013. Being the first Sri Lankan to release his work online and for free access, he is often seen as one of Sri Lanka's earliest and most vocal advocates for the ebook format, copyleft and Creative Commons.
WDanister Thomas Fernando is a pioneer Sri Lankan lyricist. Some of the pioneers, whose names most people could not even remember were honoured. The oldest lyricist, D. T. Fernando, was a forgotten name.
WSucharitha Gamlath (10 March 1934 – 30 March 2013) was a veteran professor of Sinhala, and a bright student of the Peradeniya University. After that he functioned as the dean of the Sinhala Language Faculty of the Jaffna University. He has also served in the University of Ruhuna and Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka. And he was a well-known scholastic in linguistics and critiques who has authored a number of books on language, literature, arts and politics.
WEdmund Rowland Jayathilake Gooneratne, Gate Mudaliyar, JP, was a Ceylonese British colonial-era administrator and a literary figure. He was also a scholar, intellectual, social worker, planter and a Buddhist revivalist. A resident of Atapattu Walawwa in Galle, E. R. Gooneratne served as the Atapattu Mudaliyar of Galle and as the Mudaliyar of the Governor’s Gate Later he was appointed as the acting Maha Mudaliyar. E. R. Gooneratne was the most influential native official of Southern Ceylon during the British colonial rule in the country.
WLeslie Simon Goonewardene was a prominent Sri Lankan statesman. He founded Sri Lanka's first political party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, in 1935, and served as its General-Secretary from 1935 to 1977. Goonewardene was a key figure in both the Indian independence movement and the Sri Lankan independence movement. He was designated as a National Hero of Sri Lanka for his leadership in the independence movement, and his efforts are celebrated each year on the Sri Lankan Independence Day.
WSiri Gunasinghe was a Sri Lankan academic, Sanskritist, art historian, author and film maker.
WRanaweera Appuhamilage Leslie Herbert Gunawardana was a Sri Lankan historian, academic, politician and government minister.
WAnanda Wahihana Palliya Guruge, known as Ananda W.P. Guruge, was a Sri Lankan diplomat, Buddhist scholar and writer. Guruge was the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to UNESCO, France, and United States during the period from 1985 to 1994. Guruge was adjunct professor of Religious Studies at Cal State Fullerton and was the dean of academic affairs at University of the West.
WKala Keerthi Dr. Gamini Kalyanadarsha Haththotuwegama was a Sri Lankan playwright, director, actor, critic and educator. He was widely known as the father of Sri Lanka's modern street theatre. He was among the most influential directors of post-independent Sri Lanka.
WTikiri Bandara Ilangaratne was a Sri Lankan politician, author, dramatist, and theater actor. He was a Member of Parliament for Kandy, Galaha, Hewaheta and Kolonnawa in Colombo district. He served as the Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Labour, Housing, Social Services, Finance, Commerce, Food, Trade and Shipping and in other government positions in a career spanning three decades. He established the Employees' Provident Fund, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and the People's Bank while in office. As a writer, Ilangaratne is best known for writing Amba Yahaluwo (1957), a popular children's novel.
WEric Illayapparachchi is a Sinhalese writer and poet. He wrote the libretto for Agni, an opera composed by Premasiri Khemadasa which had its premiere on 26 May 2007 in Colombo. One of his short stories was made into a television drama for the series Vinividimi Adura on Sri Lanka's ITN network. Another of his short stories appears in an anthology of Sri Lankan stories in English translation.
WFr. Marcelline Jayakody was a Sri Lankan Catholic priest, musician, lyricist, author, journalist and an exponent of indigenous culture. He is attributed with the epithet 'පන්සලේ පියතුමා'. Ven. Dr. Ittapane Dhammalankara Thera authored a book on Jayakody's life, මල් පැලේ උපන් පන්සලේ පියතුමා,, which is recorded as the first book in the world by a Buddhist prelate on a Catholic priest.
WTilak Jayaratne (December 30, 1943 – September 7, 2012) was a Veteran broadcaster, media personnel, teacher and researcher and writer to Radio and television. He was instrumental in introducing alternative media forum for people Involved in the electronic media for the last 30 years. His Scripts of five avant-garde teleplay which ‘Andukola’, ‘Kadulla’, ‘Nadunana Puttu’, ‘Wanaspathi’, ‘Dande Lu Gini’ and ‘Kampitha Vil’ a result of ethnographic research conducted living with the community of people was outstanding themes to the teledrama industry Highly acclaimed.
WP.B. Jayasekara (පි.බි.ජයසේකර), also known as Premathilaka Jayasekara, is a Sri Lankan short story writer and translator. His short story, kotiya was awarded the first place at the Ravaya literary festivals in 1993 and Daruduka won the first place at the "Independent literary festival" in 1994.
WThushari Jayasekera is a Sri Lankan-American actress, performer, and writer.
WKaluachchigamage Jayatillake, known as K.Jayatillake, is a Sinhala novelist and literary critic. He was born in Kannimahara, Gampaha District, Sri Lanka and was a contemporary of Mahagama Sekara having studied in the same school. He married Sumana Jayatillake and is the father of four children.
WDarshana Ashoka Kumara is a Sri Lankan journalist as well as a book writer. Darshana is News Editor (English) of Independent Television Network, Sri Lanka.
WDaluwatte Hewa Buddhika Kurukularatne is a journalist, author lawyer and Sri Lankan politician. He was a former representative of Galle District for the United National Party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
WVenerable Sikkim Mahinda, commonly known as S. Mahinda, was a Buddhist monk from the state of Sikkim. He was a poet and author, and participated in the Sri Lankan independence movement. Although he was from Sikkim, he identified himself as a Tibetan, presumably because it was more well known in Ceylon.
WGunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, OBE, JP was a Sri Lankan academic, scholar and diplomat best known for his Malalasekara English-Sinhala Dictionary. He was the Ceylon's first Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Ceylon's High Commissioner to Canada, the United Kingdom and Ceylon's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He was the Professor Emeritus in Pali and Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies.
WPrematilaka Mapitigama, also known as K. W. M. P. Mapitigama, was a senior Sri Lankan civil servant, author and a publisher. As the Secretary to President J. R. Jayewardene, Mapitigama was one of the highest ranking public servants in the government of Sri Lanka. At the time of his death he was serving as the Secretary General of J.R. Jayewardene Center at 191 Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 7. Mapitigama succeeded W.M. P. B. Menikdiwela as the Secretary to President J. R. Jayewardene in 1988 and continued until the demise of the late president on 1 November 1996. He also authored and published a number of books both in Sinhalese and in English.
WNayomi Munaweera is a Sri Lankan American writer and author of Island of a Thousand Mirrors, which won Commonwealth Book Prize for the Asian Region in 2013, and What Lies Between Us (2016), which won the Sri Lankan National Book Award for best English novel and the Godage Award.
WKumaratunga Munidasa was a pioneer Sri Lankan (Sinhalese) linguist, grammarian, commentator, and writer. He founded the Hela Havula movement, which sought to remove Sanskrit influences from the Sinhala language. Considered one of Sri Lanka’s most historically significant scholars, he is remembered for his profound knowledge of the Sinhala language and its literary works.
WDonna Isabella Koraneliya was a Ceylonese author who was noted for having the ability to write and recite impromptu Sinhala poetry. She was born in Col, Ceylon as the second daughter of Don Francisco Senarathna Kumara Perumal and Francina Jasenthu Graivo. Gajaman was baptised as Donna Isabella Koraneliya. She had her early education within her own family. She was talented and earned her honorific name Gajaman Nona from her mother. She grew up in Matara, with a taste for dressing like a Dutch woman, which came from her partially 'Westernized' background. She had a surprising talent in literature, which was highlighted by the women of her community and status.
WPayagalage Don Shirley Shelton was a film director and writer who began as an acting instructor in the mid-1970s.
WAchchige Patali Champika Ranawaka is a Sri Lankan Electrical Engineer and a politician. He is a Member of Parliament from the Colombo District of Right-wing Nationalist political party, Jathika Hela Urumaya. He was the Cabinet Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, as well as Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Power and Energy and Technology, Research and Atomic Energy.
WEdiriweera Sarachchandra was a Sri Lankan playwright, novelist, poet, literary critic, essayist and social commentator. Considered Sri Lanka's premier playwright, he was a senior lecturer at the University of Peradeniya for many years and served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to France (1974–1977).
WShyam Selvadurai is a Sri Lankan Canadian novelist. He is most noted for his 1994 novel Funny Boy, which won the Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction.
WRan Banda Seneviratne was a Sri Lankan lawyer, author, lyricist, television and radio presenter. Children : Thushara Senevirathne
WThakurartha Devadithya Guardiyawasam Lindamulage Nalin Kumara de Silva is a Sri Lankan philosopher and a political analyst. He is the current Sri Lankan abassador in Myanmar. He was a professor in the department of mathematics, a member of University Grant Commission and the dean of the faculty of science at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.
WW. A. Silva was a best-selling author of Sinhala literature. Wellawattearachchige Abraham Silva was born in Wellawatte, Colombo. After receiving a formal Sinhala education, he wrote his first novel, "Siriyalatha", at the age of 16.
WPiyadasa Sirisena was a Ceylonese pioneer novelist, patriot, journalist, temperance worker and independence activist. He was the author of some of the bestselling Sinhalese novels in early 20th century. A follower of Anagarika Dharmapala, Siresena was the most popular novelist of the era and most of his novels were on nationalistic and patriotic themes. 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. Some of his novel were reprinted even in the 21st century.
WKala Keerthi Regi Siriwardena was a Sri Lankan academic, journalist, poet, writer, playwright and writer of screenplays.
WSaman Tilakasiri was a Sri Lankan poet, journalist and an award-winning author. He was a Senior Editor with "Lankadeepa" at Times of Ceylon and the Chief Editor of "Rasavahini" magazine. His published work include research on Sinhala literature, Sinhala grammar lessons, and a number of popular Sinhala books for children and youngsters, several of which won national awards, presidential award and UNICEF Book Competition for "Year of the Children 1979". Children's books by Saman Tilakasiri have become classic contributions to the Sri Lankan and Sinhala literature due to their unique story-telling style that combines conversational and lyrical poetic expression to tell a story which is also enjoyed by adults.
WNira Konjit Wickramasinghe is professor of modern South Asian studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands and a well known international academic. She was a professor in the department of history and international relations, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, until 2009. She grew up in Paris and studied at the University of Paris IV - Sorbonne from 1981 to 1984 and at the University of Oxford from 1985 to 1989, where she earned her doctorate in modern history. She joined the University of Colombo in 1990 and taught there until 2009. She has been a World Bank Robert McNamara fellow, a Fulbright senior scholar at New York University, a visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and more recently British Academy Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford. She is currently working on a history of the reception of the sewing machine in colonial Sri Lanka, a topic which she researched while on sabbatical at the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies Princeton University in 2008–2009.
WSamara Wijesinghe was a Sri Lanka engineer, author, poet and blogger.
WSirimal Wijesinghe is a Sri Lankan author, political analyst, film director, journalist, alternative intellectual, and leader of the Poor People's Party in Sri Lanka. critic and activist. He is the founding editor of the controversial Sinhala youth magazine, Paradisaya. He is one of the pioneers of the new wave of Colombo-based young political and cultural analysts who emerged in the decade of 1980, particularly after the advent of the open economic system. Wijesinghe's contribution in various fields, ranging from politics to arts, has been considered experimental as well as path-breaking.
WRajiva Wijesinha, MA, DPhil is a Sri Lankan writer in English, distinguished for his political analysis as well as creative and critical work. An academic by profession for much of his working career, he was most recently Senior Professor of Languages at the University of Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka.