The 135th birth anniversary of Lake House founder D.R. Wijewardene falls today.
Wijewardene, born on February 23, 1886, was a towering figure in the local Independence Movement who campaigned against colonialism through his newspapers published in all three languages.
Before his death in June 1950, he had 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. 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 uplift of Lake House, which he moulded into becoming the country’s biggest publishing group. He was the undisputed doyen of the newspaper industry in Sri Lanka, whose legacy is still alive in the ANCL and beyond.