The 70th death anniversary of Lake House (Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited) founder D.R. Wijewardene falls today.
Wijewardene was a towering figure in the local Independence Movement who campaigned against colonial rule through his newspapers published in all three languages. He established an array of daily and weekly newspapers in all three languages, including the Dinamina and the Daily News, both of which are now more than 100 years old. With the establishment of the Thinakaran, Lake House became a trilingual publishing house. In 1929, he moved all newspaper operations to the present Lake House building, now recognised as a historic and architectural landmark in Colombo on the banks of the Beira Lake.
Wijewardene hired the best editors, journalists and photographers of the day to boldly tell the truth to readers and also invested in the latest machinery at the time to print high quality newspapers. His life was dedicated to the uplift of Lake House, which he nurtured into becoming the country’s biggest and until recently the only trilingual, publishing group. He also worked tirelessly for the uplift of Buddhism and higher education. He was the undisputed doyen of the newspaper industry in Sri Lanka, whose legacy is still alive at Lake House and beyond. He passed away on June 13, 1950.