Munidasa Kumaratunga

Munidasa Kumarathunga who paved a new path in the tradition of Sinhala poetry was a pioneer in the renovation of Sinhala language and literature. He was a grammarian, a poet, a journalist an educationist and an editor. And he was the founder of Sinhala grammer school called Hela Havula. He edited classical literary works like Kavsilumina, Muwa devdavatha, Mayura sandesaya and the rest which were written by great Sinhala writers. Vyakarana Vyakaranaya and Kriya- Vyakaranaya which were written by him were very important grammer works. He composed a cerise of school text books for Sinhala language called Kiyavana Nuvana. Kumaratunga was a teacher. He wrote about Teaching Profession. He worked to uplift the pride of Sinhala Teachers. He was promoted to the post of Inspector of schools. He knew the importance of English and encouraged learning English as a second language. Hatpana and Magul Keema are the story books which were written by him for Children. “Piyasamara” was the best poetry among his creations.