Henry Steel Olcott

Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (August 2, 1832 – February 17, 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer and the co-founder and first President of the Theosophical Society.

Olcott was the first well-known person of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. His subsequent actions as president of the Theosophical Society helped create a renaissance in the study of Buddhism. Olcott is considered a Buddhist modernist for his efforts in interpreting Buddhism through a Westernized lens.

 

T.B. Jayah

Tuan Branudeen Jayah was a great patriot of our nation, "a  multi-faceted, multi-dimensional personality" who towered above his contemporaries in the Muslim Community. He was a national figure in the period spanning the introduction of the Donoughmore and Soulbury Constitutions which culminated in Ceylon attaning full independence from British rule in 1948.
In 1944, he spoke for three hours on the Soulbury Report and the White Paper of the United Kingdom Government to pave the way for full independence. It was on this historic occasion that the then leader of the House in the State Council, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike paid him a high tribute, when he said, "Credit for the attainment of independence should undoubtedly go to Mr. T.B. Jayah for his historic speech in passing the Dominion Bill".
Tuan Branudeen Jayah was born on January 1, 1890 at Galagedera. He died on May 31, 1960, at Jennathul Baqi, Medina - the resting place of Assabis and members of the Holy Prophet's family.

Gongale Goda Banda

Wansapurna Dewage David alias Gongale Goda Banda (aka Peliyagoda David) (13 March 1809 - 1 December 1849 ), the leader of the 1848 Rebellion, pretender to the throne of Kandy and a National Hero of Sri Lanka

Monarawila Keppetipola

Rajapaksa Wickramasekera Mudiyanselage Monarawila Keppetipola, widely known as Keppetipola Disawe was a high ranking official under the rule of King Sri Wikrama Rajasinghe and later under the British Administration in Ceylon. He was a prominent leader of the Uva rebellion of 1818 after he joined the rebels whom he was sent to suppress by the British Govt. The rebellion was defeated by the British, and Keppetipola Disawe was found guilty of high treason and was beheaded on November 26, 1818 at the Bogambara execution grounds in Kandy, by the British. Keppetipola Disawe is well known for the exceptional courage that he showed at the moment of his execution.

Keppetipola Disawe was born to an aristocratic family in Monarawila of the Matale area. Keppetipola Disawe’s father Golahela Disawe was the Diyawadana Nilame of Dalada Maligawa and Disawe of Tamankaduwa during the reign of King Sri Wikrama Rajasinghe.After his death, Keppetipola Disawe acquired his position.

 

Walisinghe Harischandra was born to the family of Walisinghe Hendrick de Silva and Pehandi Marthnanda de Silva Gunasekera in Negombo on July 09, 1876. His birth name was Edward de Silva. Edward started his primary education under a Buddhist scholar monk and then attended St. Mary's College, Negombo. Later he was entrusted to a lawyer uncle in Colombo, to continue his studies in English and Law. He was a student of Wesley College, Colombo from 1889 to 1895.  After the school education, he attended the Law College.

  Martin Wickramasinghe, MBE was a professional and an important Sri Lankan novelist born in the Southern village of Koggala, bounded on one side by the reef – fringed sea, and on the other by the large lake into which the numerous tributaries of the Koggala Oya drain. The landscapes of the sea, lake studded with little islands, the flora and fauna, the forested hinterland, and the changing patterns of life and culture of the people of the village were the background of his early years, that Martin Wickramasinghe later immortalized in his novels and short stories and autobiographical writings.

Kumaratunga Munidasa

KumarathuMunidasa was born on 25 July 1887 in Idigasaara, Dickwella in the Matara District. He was the 12 th of 13 children.  His mother was Palavinnage Dona Gimara Muthukumarana (or Dona Baba Nona Muthukumarana) and father Abious (or Abiyes) Cumaranatunga was a physician practicing indigenous medicine who kept invaluable Pali and Sanskrit manuscripts on Ayurveda, Astrology and Buddhism.

He first studied at the Dikwella Buddhist School. Later his father died and he attended St. Thomas' College, Matara. Then he attended theDikwella Watarukanna Pirivena to learn Pali and Sanskrit in order to become a Buddhist monk. But due his family's discontent, he entered the Government Teachers' College in Colombo. He graduated after two years of training in 1907