Charles Alwis Hewavitharana

Charles Alwis Hewavitharana, FRCS, LRCP was a Ceylonese (Sinhalese) physician who played a significant role in Sri Lanka's Independence and Buddhist Revival movements.

After graduating he joined the Ceylon Medical Service left for Britain for further studies gaining a LRCP (London) and FRCS.

Fearing an uprising the inexperienced British colonial Governor of Ceylon Sir Robert Chalmers declared Martial Law on 2 June 1915 and on the advice of Inspector General of Police Herbert Dowbiggin began a brutal suppression of the Sinhala Buddhist community by giving orders to the Police and the Army to shoot any one who they deemed a rioter without a trial, it is said that the numbers of Sinhalese killed this way were in the thousands.

Many local leaders were imprisoned and Captain D.E.Henry Pedris, a military officer, was executed based on false charges of mutiny.

Hewavitharana Memorial Prize for Physics is also annually awarded by the Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya.