Mendis Rohanadeera

Rohanadeera was born on 21 January 1931 in Pallattara village in Hambantota District (Suraweera, 2013). He completed his primary education at the Government Sinhala School in the village and then entered the Nittambuwa Guru Vidyalaya where he underwent teacher training under D.P. Atukorala from 1950 to 1951 (Suraweera, 2013). During this period, Rohanadeera was fortunate to have Mahagama Sekara as his colleague who later became a popular poet, playwright, novelist, artist and filmmaker in Sri Lanka (Suraweera, 2013).

 

After the teacher training, Rohanadeera got a job at Buddhagosha Vidyalaya at Kalubowila (Suraweera, 2013). He followed a Diploma course in Sinhala along with his colleague Mahagama Sekara at the University of Ceylon from 1956 to 1957 (Suraweera, 2013). After that, he got a teaching appointment at Weeraketiya Central and then at Vidyodaya University where he obtained his Master's and PhD degrees (Suraweera, 2013). With a series of promotions and honorary titles, Rohanadeera eventually became a Senior Professor of History and Archaeology (Suraweera, 2013). 

1) Suraweera, A.V., 2013. Professor Mendis Rohanadeera (1931-2011). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. pp.104-106.