Vijita Fernando, a celebrated Sri Lankan author and journalist, passed away on Thursday at the age of 99, just months shy of her 100th birthday. Born in 1926 in Hikkaduwa, she was likely the oldest living graduate of the University of Ceylon at the time of her death, and is widely regarded as one of the country’s most distinguished literary figures.

Throughout her career, Fernando earned numerous accolades, including multiple State Literary Awards and the Gratien Prize in 2002 for her translation of creative Sinhala fiction into English. She held various editorial roles at the Ceylon Daily News, including feature writer and editor of the women’s and children’s pages, as well as serving as a leader writer. Her work reached international audiences, with one of her short stories broadcast on the BBC World Service and a Spanish translation aired on its Latin American Service. Several of her stories were also published abroad.

Fernando’s literary output included a novel published in 2013 and two collections of short stories, underscoring her reputation as one of the finest translators from Sinhala to English of her generation. She was the younger sister of the late M. Chandrasoma, noted civil servant, and the widow of Bonnie Fernando, a fellow Lake House journalist. The couple had three daughters.

Her funeral took place yesterday at the General Cemetery in Borella.