𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝑾𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒆

 

Martin Wickramasinghe was originally known as Don Bastian of Child Soldier and later as Martin Wickramasinghe. He was born on May 29, 1890. He was the only son of a family of ten born to Liyanage Thochchohami of Balapitiya, Magalla.

   At the age of 5, Wickramasinghe learned the Sinhala alphabet at home and from the monks of the village temple. At the age of two he was admitted to the village school, where he was educated until 1897. During that time he learned to speak English as well as Latin fluently.

    

 Wickramasinghe began his literary career with the publication of the novel "Leela" and the collection of literary criticism articles, "Academic Documents". Among his literary creations are Guttila Kavya, The Rise of Sinhala Literature, Critical Articles. Wickramasinghe's greatest work was Viragaya. It was published in 1956. His other literary works include Dadumonaraya, Princess Rankedi, Beach, Irangani, Madolduwa, Gamperaliya and Karuwala Gedara. Not only this, he has created many such creations. He passed away on June 23, 1976.

     He was also nicknamed the "Great Gatkar of the Hela".