Evelyn Frederick Charles Ludowyk (1906–1985), was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Burg ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

an scholar,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

, and the first

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of English of the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...

Education

A member of a prominent Dutch Burgher family, Ludowyk had his secondary education at

Wesley College, Colombo Wesley College, Colombo, popularly known as "Wesley" or "The Double Blues" is a school providing primary and secondary education in Sri Lanka since 1874. Wesley College is a Methodist educational institution. History In 1858, Rev. Joseph Ri ...

and Richmond College,

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Souther ...

. In 1922 he entered the

Ceylon University College Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

and obtained a First Class degree in English from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was awarded a Government scholarship to study further at the University of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1929. While at Cambridge he was deeply influenced by

I. A. Richards Ivor Armstrong Richards CH (26 February 1893 – 7 September 1979), known as I. A. Richards, was an English educator, literary critic, poet, and rhetorician. His work contributed to the foundations of the New Criticism, a formalist movement ...

and

F. R. Leavis Frank Raymond "F. R." Leavis (14 July 1895 – 14 April 1978) was an English literary critic of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. He taught for much of his career at Downing College, Cambridge, and later at the University of York. Leavis ra ...

. In 1936 he obtained his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

from the University of Cambridge, writing a dissertation on "English and English Education in Ceylon".

Academic career

He returned to Ceylon from Cambridge in 1932 and was appointed a Lecturer in English at the Ceylon University College. In 1936 was appointed Professor of English. In 1940 he was also appointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts. When the University College was converted into the University of Ceylon, Ludowyk was appointed its first Professor of English in 1942. He was made the first Dean of Arts in the newly established University in Peradeniya in 1952. Among his students there was the linguistics lecturer and children's writer

Chitra Fernando Chitra Fernando (1935–1998) was a writer of short stories and children's literature from Sri Lanka. She was born in the city of Kalutara in southern Sri Lanka.Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and Isobel Grundy, eds., ''The Feminist Compani ...

. In 1956 Ludowyk retired from the University of Ceylon and migrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Dramatist

Ludowyk joined the University College Dramatic Society in 1922. Ludowyk produced a number of plays after returning from Cambridge. His most well-known production is the play " He Comes from Jaffna" which is still staged in Sri Lanka today. He was the producer of many of the productions by the University College Dramatic Society. He also collaborated with

Ediriweera Sarachchandra Dr. Veditantirige Eustace Reginold de Silva (later became Veditantirige Ediriweera Ranjitha Sarachchandra) (3 June 1914 – 16 August 1996; Sinhala: මහාචාර්ය එදිරිවීර සරච්චන්ද්‍ර), popularly ...

to produce ''Kapuwa Kapothi'', an adaptation of

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

's play "Marriage" in 1945.

Personal life

In 1940 he met and married Edith Gyömröi. In 1956, because the island's humid climate caused Edith problems, the couple moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.http://pdfs.island.lk/2008/07/16/m4.pdf Later they settled in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

. Ludowyk died in Colchester in 1985.

Works

;Books * Marginal Comments (1945) *The Footprint of the Buddha (London, 1958) * The Story of Ceylon (London, 1962) * Understanding Shakespeare (Cambridge, 1962) * The Modern History of Ceylon (London, 1966) * Those Long Afternoons: Childhood in Colonial Ceylon (Colombo, 1989) ;Plays * He Comes From Jaffna (1933)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludowyk, E. F. C. 1906 births 1985 deaths Alumni of Richmond College, Galle Academic staff of the Ceylon University College Academic staff of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Burgher academics Burgher writers Sri Lankan emigrants to the United Kingdom Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Sri Lankan dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Sri Lankan historians 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Historians of Sri Lanka Academics from Galle People from Galle People from Colombo