Camillus Perera

Kala Keerthi Camillus Perera (1 December 1939 – 17 December 2023) was a Sri Lankan cartoonist. His cartoon characters like Gajaman 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 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 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.

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.