Editing Martin Wickramasinghe (section)

== Early life ==
Born Lama Hewage Don Martin Wickramasinghe, on 29 May 1890, in the town of [[Koggala]] ([[Galle District]]),<ref>{{cite web|title= Martin Wickramasinghe describes father Peace Officer Bastian Wickramasinghe 's skill in investigating crime in this last section of the sixth chapter of Upan Da Sita |url= http://www.island.lk/2002/08/18/featur01.html }}</ref> as the only son of Lamahewage Don Bastian Wickramasinghe (father) and Magalle Balapitiya Liyanage Thochchohamy (mother).

At the age of five Wickramasinghe was taught the [[Sinhala alphabet]], at home and in the village temple, by a monk, Andiris Gurunnanse. He also learned the Devanagari script and could recite by memory long sections of the ''[[Hitopadesa]]''. After two years he was taken to a vernacular school where he prospered until 1897 when he was sent to an English school in [[Galle]] called [[Buona Vista College|Buona Vista]] . In the two years spent at the school Wickramasinghe became fluent in English as well as Latin. When his father died in 1901, he returned to a vernacular school in Ahangama and subsequently lost interest in schooling.<ref name=Wickramasinghe/><ref name=Ariyadasa/><ref name=Saparamadu/>

Having left school, at the age of 16 years Wickramasinghe found work as a [[book-keeper]] in a shop in Colombo owned by Carolis Silva in 1906. Following year he left the shop to join a commissions agency run by John Silva. In 1910, his mother dies. Following the [[1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots]], John Silva's agency was closed and he returned to Koggala. He then became a book-keeper at Cornelis Silva's shop in [[Batticaloa]].