Premil Ratnayake, ( Sinhala: ප්‍රෙමිල් රත්නායක; 3 April 1933 – 10 April 2013), 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 ...

n journalist, author, writer, diplomat, and former

First Secretary First Secretary may refer to: * First minister, a leader of a government * Secretary (title), a leader of a political party (especially Communist parties), trade union, or other organization * First Secretary (diplomatic rank), a role within an emba ...

(Press and Information). Ratnayake was a prominent journalist, having worked at The Lake House, '' The Daily News'', and ''

The Island The Island(s) may refer to: Places * Any of various islands around the world, see the list of islands * The Island (Cache County, Utah), an island on the Bear River, Utah * The Island, Chennai, a river island in India * The Island, Chicago, a n ...

''. He also worked under Lalith Athulathmudali, as Press Secretary, at the Ministry of Trade and Shipping. In 1984 he was assigned to Bonn, Germany, as

, for Press and Information, on behalf of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. Later while in retirement, he returned to ''The Daily News'' for a short period.

Early life

Ratnayake Mudianselage Premil Ratnayake was born on 3 April 1933, in Hatton,

Ceylon 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 ...

. He was the fourth son of Mudianselage Marshal Ratnayake and Rossyln Paranavitanage. He had four siblings; Willy, Wimala, Edwin (former Commissioner of Labour) and Lal, former

DIG Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock (geology), rock on the surface of Earth. Di ...

. Ratnayake was an exceptionally talented student, athlete,

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

Personal life

Premil married Jasmine Ratnayake in 1964, they had three children; Manohari, Sirimali, and Nayomini Ratnayake Weerasooriya.

Journalism and writing career

Ratnayake started his career working at the Bank of Ceylon,. Afterwards, he left to pursue his passion, which was writing. Ratnayake then joined the Lake House, working as a journalist for the '' Ceylon Daily News''. Premil worked alongside the likes of

Mervyn de Silva Mervyn de Silva (5 September 1929 – 22 June 1999) was a Sri Lankan journalist. He was the editor in chief of Lake House and of ''The Times of Ceylon'', editor of the ''Ceylon Daily News'' and the ''Lanka Guardian''. Early life and family Mervy ...

who was the editor of the Lake House, Willie de Alwis

D. B. Dhanapala Diyogu Badathuruge Dhanapala (1905-1971) was a pioneering Sri Lankan journalist and writer. Early life and career Dhanapala was born in Tissamaharama and educated at Mahinda College, Galle and Allahabad University in India. After an early car ...

, and Christie Seneviratne. Ratnayake, while being a skilled writer, could also speak Sinhalese, Tamil and Hindi.

Apollo 12 crew tour

In March 1970, Premil covered the historic event of the arrival of the

Apollo 12 Apollo 12 (November 14–24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, by NASA from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Commander Pete Conra ...

mission crew in

, for the '' Ceylon Daily News'', part of a 20-nation goodwill tour, to celebrate the successful voyage to and back from the Moon. The

was the second spaceflight to land men on the Moon, it consisted of Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., Richard F. Gordon Jr., and

Alan L. Bean Alan LaVern Bean (March 15, 1932 – May 26, 2018) was an American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, NASA astronaut and painter; he was the fourth person to walk on the Moon. He was selected to become an ast ...

. The crew was welcomed by the then Minister of State, J. R. Jayewardene, US Ambassador Andrew Corry, and the Mayor of Colombo,

Vincent Perera Mathew Vincent Perera (21 September 1918 - 7 April 1993) was a Sri Lankan statesman. He served in multiple cabinet positions and government posts. Perera was also Mayor of Colombo twice. Perera was one of the wounded in the 1987 grenade attack i ...

1977 Parliamentary elections

Ratnayake was assigned to cover the 1977 Parliamentary elections, this assignment entailed covering all the election meetings held by J. R. Jayewardene (Leader of the Opposition at the time), on behalf of the '' Ceylon Daily News''. They covered almost all parts of the island.

Government positions

Later in his career, Ratnayake was invited by Lalith Athulathmudali to join the Ministry of Trade and Shipping, as the Press Secretary, in order to handle publicity for the Ministry. In 1984, the

subsequently sent him to Bonn, Germany, as First Secretary, for Press and Information. NDR Talkshow Tietjen und Hirschhausen Messestudio Hannover

NDR Talkshow Tietjen und Hirschhausen Messestudio Hannover

Post retirement

After retiring, Ratnayake returned to Lake House, to write for ''The Daily News'' briefly. Since he was a writer and journalist belonging to the old world order, he didn't fancy writing on computers, and managed to get himself the only typewriter left at the Lake House as he simply says ''"To hell with the modernity, the scuttling mouse. All this sophisticated hi-fi gadgetry nauseates me and threatens to kill my journalistic creativity. Give me the typewriter any day – I am like an orphan child re-united with his mother. To be true I detest the computer. Only the typewriter can instil in me the desire to write. Its touch the loving caress, inspires me. Maybe I am naive and old-fashioned but I am me and I am in love with the old mistress."''

Death

Ratnayake died on 10 April 2013, at the age of 80.

Bibliography

Ratnayake wrote several books in his lifetime, four of which were published. One notable example was an autobiography of Lalith Athulathmudali.

''War and Warriors'' (1996)

Ratnayake's first novel was published in 1996. The story follows Kumar Ranjana, a boy aged 10, and his life ordeals during World War II, following the Easter Sunday Raid, where Japanese forces attacked Ceylon on Easter Sunday.

''The Third Person Note'' (1997)

His final novel, ''The Third Person Note'' was presented on 12 November 1997, at an event held at the National Library Services Board Auditorium, it was attended by Gamini Weerakoon, editor of ''

'', and Dr.

A. T. Ariyaratne Sri Lankabhimanya Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne (Sinhala language, Sinhala:අහන්ගමගේ ටියුඩර් ආරියරත්න, born 5 November 1931) is a Sri Lankan founder and president of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement i ...

, president of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement.

External links

Premil Ratnayake Digital Archives

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratnayake, Premil 1933 births 2013 deaths People from Colombo Sri Lankan journalists Alumni of Ananda College People from British Ceylon 20th-century journalists 21st-century journalists Sinhalese writers Sinhalese people English-language writers from Sri Lanka Sri Lankan editors Sri Lankan diplomats Asian journalists 20th-century Sri Lankan writers 21st-century Sri Lankan writers non-c Foreign relations of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan government officials Sri Lankan expatriates Sri Lankan novelists 21st-century Sri Lankan male writers 20th-century Sri Lankan male writers