X-Nico

unusual facts about Ceylonese



Anagarika Dharmapala

Along with Henry Steel Olcott and Helena Blavatsky, the creators of the Theosophical Society, he was a major reformer and revivalist of Ceylonese Buddhism and very crucial figure in its Western transmission.

Bella Sidney Woolf

Bella Sidney Woolf OBE (1877 – 1960) was an English author, sister of author Leonard Woolf and wife, in her second marriage, of Hong Kong colonial secretary and colonial Ceylonese administrator Tom Southorn.

Cenotaph War Memorial, Colombo

It was originally built in the 1920s to remember both Ceylonese and Europeans from Ceylon who were killed in World War I, was constructed at the Galle Face Green.

Ceylon Medical College

In 1839 Stewart-Mackenzie, the British Governor of Ceylon, started sending a small number of Ceylonese to study medicine in Calcutta.

Colombo Town Guard

Sir Razik Fareed, OBE, JP (29 December 1893 - 23 August 1984), was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) lawyer, politician, diplomat and philanthropist.

Edward Harper

As a result of Edward Harper's efforts and that of the pioneering Ceylonese engineers, Radio Ceylon came into being - it is the oldest radio station in South Asia.

Henry Speldewinde de Boer

Captain Dr Henry Speldewinde de Boer, CMG, MC (1896–1957) was a Ceylonese born British colonial doctor.

James Peter Obeyesekere III

In November 1946, he flew his single-engined Taylorcraft Auster home to Ceylon from England, becoming the first Ceylonese to make such a flight.

Kiddies Corner

A huge favourite with Ceylonese and indeed children in South Asia was the song Gilly, Gilly, Ossenfeffer, Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea, sung by Max Bygraves - the song entered the British charts on September 10, 1954 and reached No 7.

Lalith Kotelawala

Born to Senator Justin Kotalawela a Ceylonese politician and businessman, he was educated at prestigious Royal College, Colombo and studied chartered accountancy in the UK.

Mignonne Fernando

The Ceylonese 'Wedding Song' (Mangala Mohotha) was her first song to be copyrighted by KPM.

Milroy Paul

Paul was the first Ceylonese to deliver the Hunterian Oration at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on three occasions - The Surgical Anatomy of the Spermatic Cord (1950), Congenital Abnormalities of the Midline Abdominal Wall (1953) and Haemorrhages from Head Injuries (1955).

National Treasures of Japan

Located in the Sendai City Museum, the designated set of items consists of 47 objects: a Roman citizenship document dating from November 1615; a portrait of Pope Paul V; a portrait of Hasekura in prayer following his conversion in Madrid; 19 religious paintings; pictures of saints; ceremonial items such as rosaries; a cross and medals; 25 items of harnesses and clothing such as priests' garments; an Indonesian kris; and a Ceylonese dagger.

P. R. Anthonis

Then he became the first Ceylonese surgeon to pass through the primary and final examination for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) without a single examination mishap.

Rosemary Rogers

After spending three years at the University of Ceylon, Rogers became a reporter, and soon married Summa Navaratnam, a Ceylonese rugby player and track star (who played for Ceylon against the 1950 British Lions and who was known as "the fastest man in Asia").

Suriya-Mal Movement

In protest against the proceeds of Poppy sales on Armistice Day (11 November) being used for the benefit of the British ex-servicemen to the detriment of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen, one of the latter, Mr Aelian Perera, had started a rival sale of Suriya flowers on the same day, the proceeds of which were devoted to help needy Ceylonese ex-servicemen.


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