Camillus Perera
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Kala Keerthi The Kala Keerthi () is a Sri Lankan national honour awarded "''for extraordinary achievements and contributions in arts, culture and drama''". It is the highest national honour for arts, culture and drama in Sri Lanka. It is conventionally used as ...
Camillus Perera (1 December 1939 – 17 December 2023) was a Sri Lankan cartoonist. His cartoon characters like
Gajaman ''Gajaman'' (), sometimes referred to as '' Camillus' Gajaman 3D'', is a 2023 Sri Lankan Sinhala 3D animation comedy film directed by Chanaka Perera and co-produced by John Fonseka and Chamika Jinadasa, Executive Produced by Isuru Silva and Isuru ...
and Siribiris have been published in various Sinhala newspapers ranging from the ''Sunday Observer'' to ''Sivdesa''. Perera was invited to join the advisory board of John Lent's Cartoon Journal in 2002.


Life and career


Early life

Perera was born in
Negombo Negombo (, ), also known as Punchi Romaya (Little Rome), is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, from Colombo via the E03 expressway ...
and was the eldest son in a family of four. He was educated at the Roman Catholic Sinhala School, Maris Stella and St. Mary's College, Negombo. Perera first dabbled in
art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
in the lower grades. He also briefly pursued a career as a sportsman in his teens leading the Jupiter Football Association in Negombo.


Cartoonist

Perera began work as a cartoonist in 1966 developing characters for the Observer and "Dekkoth Pathmawathi" for Lake House's film magazine. In 1972, he created Gajaman, his most popular character which eventually became a cult classic in Sri Lanka. Gajaman first appeared on Sathuta, a Lake House comic art publication and from 1975 to 1984 occupied a spot on the comic publication Sittara. He eventually transformed himself into an household name in Sri Lanka among the general audience through the creation of cartoon characters such as Gajaman and Siribiris. In April 1984, Perera produced a magazine devoted to his work titled ''Camillusge Gajaman''. Its success, with over 200,000 copies sold, prompted the followups ''Camillusge Samayan'' in December and ''Camillusge Gajaman #2'' the next year. Both sold between 200,000–300,000 copies and resulted in the formation of Camillus Publications. Perera cited copyright issues as a primary reason for the creation of his new company. He subsequently registered his 15 characters with the Department of Registry and Patents. ''Camillusge Gajaman Samaga Sathsiri'' (later shortened to ''Sathsiri'') released in 1986 was the first comic magazine by Camillus Publications and immediately sold over 150,000 copies eventually achieving a circulation of 200,000. Their second magazine ''Camillusge Don Sethan Samaga Rasika'' (shortened to ''Rasika'') followed the misadventures of Don Sethan, Perera's oldest creation. Don Sethan first appeared in the daily ''Janath'' on 1 May 1966. In the 1990s, Perera worked on several periodicals including a weekly comic magazine.


Death

Perera died on 17 December 2023, at the age of 84.


Legacy

Several exhibitions of Perera's work have been held. In 2002 Perera celebrated Gajaman's 36th birthday at BMICH, Colombo 7 with chief guest Power and Energy Minister
Karu Jayasuriya Sri Lankabhimanya Karu Jayasuriya (, ; born 29 September 1940) is a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Previously he was Mayor of Colombo from 1997 to 1999, Minister of Power and Energy from 2001 to 2004, ...
. In 2004 the Alliance Française de Kandy sponsored an exhibition which was opened by Professor Kapila Goonasekere, Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya. An animated film based on the comic strip ''
Gajaman ''Gajaman'' (), sometimes referred to as '' Camillus' Gajaman 3D'', is a 2023 Sri Lankan Sinhala 3D animation comedy film directed by Chanaka Perera and co-produced by John Fonseka and Chamika Jinadasa, Executive Produced by Isuru Silva and Isuru ...
'' was produced by Studio 101 and released on 27 January 2023.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera, Camillus 1939 births 2023 deaths Sri Lankan cartoonists Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Kala Keerthi People from Negombo