Lama Hewage Don Martin Wickramasinghe, (commonly known as Martin Wickramasinghe) () (29 May 1890 – 23 July 1976) was a Sri Lankan journalist and author. His books have been translated into several languages. Wickramasinghe is often acclaimed as the father of modern Sinhala literature. Early life Born Lama Hewage Don Martin Wickramasinghe, on 29 May 1890, in the town of Koggala (Galle District), as the only son of Lamahewage Don Bastian Wickramasinghe (father) and Magalle Balapitiya Liyanage Thochchohamy (mother). At the age of five Wickramasinghe was taught the Sinhala alphabet, at home and in the village temple, by a monk, Andiris Gurunnanse. He also learned the Devanagari script and could recite by memory long sections of the Hitopadesa. After two years he was taken to a vernacular school where he prospered until 1897 when he was sent to an English school in Galle called Buona Vista . In the two years spent at the school Wickramasinghe became fluent in English as well as Latin. When his father died in 1901, he returned to a vernacular school in Ahangama and subsequently lost interest in schooling. Having left school, at the age of 16 years Wickramasinghe found work as a book-keeper in a shop in Colombo owned by Carolis Silva in 1906. Following year he left the shop to join a commissions agency run by John Silva. In 1910, his mother dies. Following the 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots, John Silva's agency was closed and he returned to Koggala. He then became a book-keeper at Cornelis Silva's shop in Batticaloa. Journalism career In 1916, Martin Wickramasinghe starts to write to the Sinhala daily Dinamina under the penname Hethu Vaadi (Rationalist) and pens a controversial series called "Plants and Animals". He then joins the editorial staff of Dinamina, owned by the press baron D. R. Wijewardena's Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL). In 1927, he leaves Dinamina to join Lakmina. In 1931, he returns to ANCL as the editor of Sinhala weekend paper Silumina. In 1932, he was appointed editor of Dinamina, serving until his resignation in 1946. Literary career His literary career began with the novel Leela (1914) and an anthology of essays on literary criticism, Shastriya Lekhana (1919). Shortly thereafter he began a campaign to raise literary standards for the Sinhalese reading public with work such as Sahityodaya Katha (1932), Vichara Lipi (1941), Guttila Geetaya (1943) and Sinhala Sahityaye Nageema (1946) in which