Harischandra Wijayatunga
| Harischandra Wijayatunga | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25 October 1931 Minuwangoda, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Other names | Wijayatunga Mudalige Harischandra Wijayatunga |
| Education |
Nalanda College, Colombo University of Ceylon University of Kelaniya |
| Occupation | Writer (Sinhala), Author in Sri Lanka,Lawyer, politician |
| Spouse(s) | Kalukapuge Karuna Perera |
| Children | Widyasagara Chakrapani Chandrakeerthi Shyama Kumari |
Wijayatunga Mudalige Harischandra Wijayatunga (Sinhalese: විජයතුංග මුදලිගේ හරිශ්චන්ද්ර විජයතුංග; born 25 October 1931) is a Sri Lankan author, translator, lexicographer, teacher, lawyer and politician. He held various offices in different institutions of the Government of Sri Lanka. At present he is the leader of Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Party. During the presidential elections of 1994 and 1999, he was the candidate of that party for this high office.
He is the compiler of the Practical Sinhala Dictionary (1982) and Gunasena Great Sinhala Dictionary, which are considered as the most comprehensive Sinhala-Sinhala dictionaries to date. Besides compiling these voluminous works of over 2000 pages, he also proposed scientific ideas to standardise the Sinhala alphabet.
His political philosophy Mahasammatavada ('Great Consensus' or comprehensive consultation) envisages consulting all people which he described "as going beyond democracy". He has also appeared for the rights of Sinhala Buddhists on various fora.
Harischandra Wijayatunga was born in 1931 at Madamulla in Minuwangoda, Sri Lanka. His father, Wijayatunga Mudalige Don Bastian Wijayatunga, was an Ayurvedic eye physician, landed proprietor and a planter (coconut and paddy) and his mother was Amarawathie Jayasinghe. Wijayatunga was the fourth in a family of eight siblings.
Wijayatunga received his elementary education at the Government Bilingual School in Minuwangoda. When the Nalanda College Colombo was relocated to Minuwangoda during the World War II, as a security measure, his parents took the opportunity to shift him to that school. After the War Nalanda College Colombo was taken back to Colombo, and Wijayatnga continued his studies at Nalanda College Colombo. Some of Wijayatunga's notable classmates at Nalanda College were Karunaratne Abeysekera, Dr Hudson Silva, Hon. Dr Dharmasena Attygalle, Hon. Rupa Karunathilake, Ravindra Rupasena and Stanley Jayasinghe.
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