Esmond Wickramasinghe
| Esmond Wickremesinghe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Cyril Esmond Lucien Wickremesinghe 29 May 1920 Ceylon |
| Died | 29 September 1985 (aged 64) Houston, Texas |
| Nationality | Ceylonese |
| Occupation | press baron |
| Known for | Lake House |
| Spouse(s) | Nalini Wickremesinghe |
| Children | Shan Ranil Niraj Channa Kshanika |
Cyril Esmond Lucien Wickremesinghe (29 May 1920 – 29 September 1985) was a Ceylonese press baron, lawyer, and a successful entrepreneur. He also played key role in defeating Sirimavo Bandaranaike that bought United National Party's Dudley Senanayake to power in 1965's Parliamentary Election. He is also father of the United National Party leader and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Wickremesinghe was born to Cyril Leonard Wickremesinghe of the Ceylon Civil Service and Esmie Moonemalle Wickremesinghe (née Goonewardene), he married Nalini Wickremesinghe (née Wijewardena) daughter of D. R. Wijewardena with whom he had five children they are Shan, Ranil, Niraj, Channa and Kshanika. One of Wickremesinghe's brothers was the former Bishop of Kurunegala, Lakshman Wickremasinghe.
Wickremesinghe became a lawyer and an active member of the Trotskyist, Lanka Sama Samaja Party. He assisted its members who were imprisoned by the British during World War II.
Wickremesinghe following his marriage, began assisting is father-in-law, D. R. Wijewardene who formed the prominent newspaper group, The Lake House which is the home of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon. He took over its management after Wijewardene's retirement due to ill-health. He served as managing director of Lake House from 1950 to 1968.
He received the first provocation as a director which was to enhance the professional structure of the newspaper group. Wickremesinghe also played in revamping the group that comprised with five dailies and three Sunday newspapers in English, Sinhalese and Tamil and he also enlisted talented journalists, nurtured journalistic excellence and used them to develop a strong regional and international relations. During his tenor he successfully fended off Sirima Bandaranaike's attempted to nationalize Lake House in the 1960s.
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