E. W. Adikaram

Dr. E. W. Adikaram
Born	March 05, 1905 Sri Lanka
Died
Residence	Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Ethnicity	Sinhalese

Kalutara Koralalage Edward Winifred Brito Adikaram (5 March 1905 – 28 December 1985) was an educationalist, writer and a social activist in Sri Lanka. In 1931 he obtained an M.A degree from London School of Oriental Studies and in 1933 a Ph.D. on the thesis "Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon". After returning to Sri Lanka he started to teach in Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte and in 1934, he became the principal of the school. He was a prominent nonviolence activist in Sri Lanka

Institutions founded

• Schools: Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda;Ananda Sastralaya, Matugama; Vidyakara Vidyalaya, Maharagama; Nigrodha Vidyalaya, Gangodawila and branches of Ananda Sastralaya at Ruwanwella and Malabe, now known as Madhya Maha Vidyalayas. All of these are state-run schools at present.
• Krishnamurti Centre, Sri Lanka, belongs to the network of study centres in various parts of the world, run by people who are interested in the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti.
• Taruna Sitivili Samajaya or Young Thinkers Forum, for the discussion of contemporary social, religious, ethical and ecological issues. At one time it had over 8000 members, mostly youths, drawn from all parts of Sri Lanka. Defunct since Dr. Adikaram's death.
• Sri Lanka Vegetarian Society, Colombo and Matara. The Colombo society was defunct between 1987 and 1997. It was revived and re-vamped in June 1997.

Principle Publications

• Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon, 1946
• Catalogue of Pali and Sinhalese Manuscripts at the Theosophical Society Library, Adyar
• The Pali Reader
• The Dhammapada, an English Translation
• Asoka Lipi (Sinhala translation of the Inscriptions of Asoka)
• Paramanuva (A Sinhala work on The Atom)
• Sitivili
• Dr Adikaram also edited a Sinhala magazine on science named navina vidyava, wrote a series of school texts on General Science and numerous newspaper articles on a variety of subjects such as social criticism, physical and environmental sciences etc.

External links

• Sri Lankan Gandhi