Martin Wickramasinghe

Wickramasinghe was born on 29 May 1890, in the town of Koggala (Galle District),[6] 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.

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