Remembering the press baron:

D R Wijewardene

ANCL Founder Chairman DR Wijewardene’s 60th death anniversary tomorrow

Stanley E. Abeynayake

D R Wijewardene, a patriot who successfully exerted himself for the cause of ushering in self-government for our country and above all, the pioneer Sinhalese Buddhist newspaper entrepreneur who became a renowned press baron passed away 60 years ago on 13 June, 1950.

Don Richard Wijewardene was born on February 28, 1886 as the third child of Muhandiram Tudugala Don Philip Wijewardene of Sedawatte, Wellampitiya in the suburbs of Colombo and Helena Wijewardene of Waragoda, Kelaniya.

Affluent family

Born to affluence with a silver spoon in his mouth, his father amassed a fortune by setting up his business as a timber merchant. D P Wijewardene commenced his enterprise on the bank of the Kelani River that brought rafts of wooden logs from the upper hinterland of the river. He purchased timber that came afloat in barges, down the river.

Then he got them sewn in his own mills at Sedawatte and sold them to prospective buyers. He owned a timber depot - Sedawatte Timber Stores at Grandpass, Colombo 14. That rich merchant made a fortune by supplying wooden materials to the British colonial government of the day. He supplied them for the construction of the Colombo Harbour, the museum and gigantic governmental building projects.

Don Philip Wijewardene married Helena Dep Weerasinghe of Waragoda, Kelaniya. The couple was blessed with seven sons and two daughters.

One of their two daughters Helen Agnes Wijewardene was given in marriage to advocate S W (Sugene Wilfred) Jayewardene and historic “Jayewardene Walauwa” St. Joseph’s Street, Colombo 14. Later S W Jayewardene became the District of Judge Colombo and also rose to become a Commissioner of Anize and soon afterwards mounted the Supreme Court Bench of an Honourable Judge.

His eldest son was J R (Junius Richard) Jayewardene, lawyer, advocate and twice elected Executive President of Sri Lanka. It should be specially noted that Helena Wijewardene known as “Lamatheni” (Lady) was the greatest philanthropist at that time also got the Kelaniya temple restored to its present grandeur and glory at her own expense.

Her contribution to charity for the cause of Buddhism increased by leaps and bounds. One of her grandsons, advocate Corbeit E. Jayewardene, a younger brother of President J R Jayewardene after his retirement as the District Judge of Colombo got ordained as a Buddhist, monk Ven Sedawatte Dhammaruchi Thera.

Bright Future

D R Wijewardene received his primary education at Sedawatte School and his secondary education at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia.

At that College he got through his Junior Cambridge and Senior Cambridge creditably well and proceeded to England to join the world famous Cambridge University.

He obtained B A and LLB Law and returned to the Motherland in 1912 and also qualified as a Barrister-at-Law of the Inner Temple (one of the four law colleges in London).

Young lawyer Richard Wijewardene took his oaths and was duly admitted and enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court. The young lawyer Wijewardene was one of the counsels in the Gampola Perahera appeal case on January 18, 1915 that came up for bearing before Justice E W Shaw and Justice T (Thomas) E de Sampayo K. C. He appeared along with two well-known counsels B W Bawa, K C and E W Perera for the Basnayake Nilame. Pitted against them were Sir Anton Bertram K. C. Attorney-General (Later C.J.) and James van Langenberg, solicitor General.

He practised in Colombo Hulftsdorp courts for a short period. Fate decreed that he becomes the foremost newspaper entrepreneur not only in the land of his birth but also in the whole of South-East Asia.

In course of time he drew his attention to the press business ventures. First he acquired the popular Sinhala newspaper, Dinamina in 1914 initiated by journalist H S Perera. His determination with patriotic zeal was to uplift ethos of the nation through a series of newspapers that would pave the way for an awakening of the minds of all Sri Lankans at that time called “Ceylonese”.

An admirer of the excellent saying “Reading maketh a full man,” he saw to the fostering of an awareness of our unsurpassed civilization symbolic of the “Dagoba” and the irrigation tank ancient history as found in our chronicles, rich culture and traditional religious and moral values. His modus operandi the way of handling this task was by disseminating knowledge on current affairs - local and foreign and other themes by publication of newspapers in English, the official language under the colonial administration and the national languages both Sinhalese and Tamil.

Building up press empire

His aspirations to build up a press empire was crowned with success when he took over the English publication The Ceylonese” and renamed it Ceylon Daily News.

It came into existence by that newly baptized name on January 3, 1918. In quick succession he was fortunate enough to achieve his ambition to be the foremost press baron by dint of sheer hard work, coverage, determination and meticulous care. He was thorough in his knowledge and familiarity of men and matters.

In 1923, he acquired the observe and Commercial Advertiser that had its origin on February 4, 1834. By his perseverance, honesty and integrity coupled with his inherent talent and sagacity, D R as he was affectionately and popularly known throughout the length and breadth of the island, in course of time he came to be the sole proprietor of seven newspapers Dinamina, Silumina (Sinhalese) Daily News, the Observer, Sunday Observer (English), Thinakaran and Sunday Thinakaran (Tamil).

Journalism was anathema to him. His attitude to any citizen was like that of a true own brother - Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Malay, Burgher, chetty even Chinese of Parse-irrespective of race or creed.

A practising devout Buddhist, he respected other religions professed, besides Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and even the religion of (Parsees).

D R Wijewardene who had, by then, made a name and fame as the greatest newspaper business magnate and entrepreneur established the most prosperous publication establishment when he incorporated the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL) in 1926.

Soon after the Observer came into existence, he saw to the publication of the highly informative Fergusons Ceylon Directory, the voluminous encyclopaedia reference book on everything salient under the sun in Sri Lanka. It celebrated its centenary in 1958.

In 1915, during the Sinhalese-Muslim riots, he got himself enlisted as a lieutenant in the Ceylon Light Infantry.

His marriage to Alice Meedeniya, a daughter of John Henry Meedeniya, Rate Mahaththaya (RM) of Kegalle took place in 1915. By that marriage he had a son and three daughters.

Just after the 1915 holocaust, mayhem or havoc as a result of the British Raj mishandling the Sinhalese-Muslim riots, prominent Sinhalese and Tamil English educated elite at that time formed the Ceylon Reform League to agitate for constitutional reforms.

D R Wijewardene and W A de Silva were elected that pioneer political organizations' joint secretaries.

Cause of nationalism

It was he who dragged Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam (C.C.S.) to the mainstream of the political reform arena.

D R dubbed Arunachalam the most educated Ceylonese of the day. His support in the formation of the National congress that replaced the previous Ceylon Reform League was tremendous. With the arrival of the Donoughmore Commission, he took a leading part in making recommendations for vital constitutional reforms.

He was in constant contact with Sir Geoffrey Butler, one of the three commissioners of that commission and saw to the implementation of the grant of universal suffrage or franchise in 1931, the setting up of the State Council and the establishment of the Board of Ministers with three officers of State Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary and Legal Secretary. His foresight was quite correct.

The Donoughmore Constitution was the stepping stone for the gaining of "Dominion" State. Independence on February 4, 1948 with the Soulbury Commission too he played a vital role in ushering us sovereignty and independence. As benefactor to the restoration of Ruwanweliseya in Anuradhapura and the shrine at Mihintale, his munificence was bountiful.

He spent lavishly for temple decorations with an aesthetic trend.

His untiring efforts resulted in the opening up of the residential University of Ceylon at Peradeniya, now the Peradeniya Campus. D R Wijewardene Hall is a monument to his undying memory at that first university in Sri Lanka.

D R Wijewardene an excellent patriot, a gentleman of many parts passed away on June 13, 1950 at the comparatively not-so-old age of 64 years.

It behoves us all intelligentsia of Sri Lanka to perpetuate his great memory among the present generation and the future generations to come, our precious posterity.