Godage Publishers founder Sirisumana Godage passes away at 90
Deshabandu Sirisumana Godage, the founder of Godage Publishers. (Image credit: Courtesy of the respective owners)
Deshabandu Sirisumana Godage, the founder of Godage Publishers, has passed away at the age of 90.
Born in May 1936 in Palatuwa village in the Matara District of the Southern Province, he was the sixth child in a family of nine siblings.
He completed his education at Gunaratana Maha Vidyalaya, a secondary school in Palatuwa. At around the age of 15, he moved to Kalutara due to financial difficulties faced by his family.
After some time, he worked as a bookbinder but suddenly lost his job.
Later, in 1957, the young Godage started a partnership business with another person and ran it from a small rented shop.
He began visiting the nearby Maligakanda Vidyodaya Pirivena to collect books and bind them. As the business gradually became successful, his association with the Chief Monk of Maligakanda and Venerable Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero brought him closer to Buddhism.
As the business grew, he hired three more employees. By that time, he was engaged in bookbinding, selling books and supplying books to libraries. In 1970, Godage moved to Maradana.
Since then, Godage Bookshop has remained at that location. Due to the growing demand for books, Godage later began publishing books.
The first book he printed was a children’s book. Later, he obtained manuscripts from various writers and began publishing books. The company has since printed a large number of books.
Sirisumana Godage is regarded as one of Sri Lanka’s leading book publishers.
He was conferred with the Deshabandu title in 2003 for his service to society.
Godage Publishers has also set a special record in the history of the State Literary Awards, winning awards continuously for 38 years as a publishing house.
At the State Literary Awards ceremony held in 2022, Godage Publishers received five awards. Godage Bookshop is also among the leading publishing houses in Sri Lanka that publish books in all three languages.
The company has also received State Literary Awards for books published in Tamil and English.
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