Remembering Prof. Wiswa Warnapala: A Courageous Scholar

Scholars who enter politics often lose something of their scholarship; politicians who return to scholarship rarely recover its discipline.

- BY AVISHKA MARIO SENEWIRATNE, Editor, The Ceylon Journal

Wiswa Warnapala

Prof. Wiswa Warnapala belonged to that increasingly rare breed who moved between both worlds without surrendering entirely to either.I never had the privilege of meeting him. Yet through years of reading modern Sri Lankan political history, I came to encounter his mind repeatedly in footnotes, arguments, and careful documentation. As we mark 10 years since his passing on February 27, 2016, it is not the politician alone who deserves remembrance, but the scholar whose works continue to anchor serious study of Sri Lanka's political institutions.

He hailed from Pitihuma, Kegalle, and was born into a simple but respectable family. He received his entire school education at Kegalu Vidyalaya and excelled in both studies and sports. After a short stint at the Central Bank, he gained entrance to the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. At that time, it was the golden era of the University, especially in the Faculty of Arts, which had lecturers who were preeminent in every endeavour they attempted. This was the era just after Ivor Jennings, and the holistic concept of a residential university was in progress.

Warnapala was a part of the Arunachalam Hall. Completing his bachelor's degree majoring in Economics and Political Science, he displayed immense potential as an academic. Even before joining the University, he was well read in politics and was a committed Marxist. He considered the well known lawyer of Kegalle, Tissa Wijeyeratne (who later became an ambassador and entrepreneur), as his mentor and was exposed to valuable books through him. His contemporaries included individuals such as Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Justice Mark Fernando, Mark Cooray, Prof. J. B. Dissanayake, Dr. Wimal Wickramasinghe, and Prof. G. P. V. Somaratna.