Patrick de Silva Kularatne
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| Occupation(s) | Teacher and politician |
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Patrick de Silva Kularatne (31 March 1893 – 16 November 1976) (known as P de S Kularatne) was a
Early life and education
Born Sella Kapu Pamis de Silva in Ambalangoda on 31 March 1893, to Sella Kapu Isaac Appu, later known as Sella Kapu Isaac de Silva and Pinnaduwa Hewa Alonchihamy Lokuhamy. His father was a master carpenter and an owner of a small plantation. He was the youngest of five siblings and his mother died when he was two. He had three elder sisters and one elder brother Heron, who became a proctor in Galle.
Receiving his early education at the village school, he attended
Educationist career
Principal of Ananda College
On 1 January 1918, following his return to Ceylon, he began his duties as principal of
Principal of Dharmaraja College
Kularatne served as the principal at Dharmaraja College from 1932 and 1936, on request of the Buddhist Theosophical Society. Dharmaraja was facing a financial crisis when Kularatne assumed duties, and even the Lake View premise was under threat of being sold. But Kularatne, was able to save the land and secure a home for Dharmaraja for the future. He restored the hostel and transformed the principal's quarters at the city premises to classrooms and a laboratory complex, and Dharmaraja started teaching science subjects in 1933. The first academic buildings in Lake View were built around this time and a part of the students were taken there. The roads and other facilities were also developed so that Lake View transformed from a shrubbery into a property any school would be proud to own. Cadetting in Dharmaraja also began during Kularatne's office and so did many other sports including tennis, swimming etc. In 1935 Dharmaraja was visited by four distinguished visitors from India; Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Uday Shankar and Kalki Krishnamurthy.
Later work
He returned to Ananda in 1936, where he served as principal till his retirement in 1943. From 1943 to 1944, he served as the Manager of the Buddhist Theological Society Schools and again from 1949 to 1954. The society ran over 300 schools.
Political career
State Council
Kularatne, who had gained a reputation as an educationist, was active in pre-independence politics of Ceylon. He was a member of the Ceylon National Congress and served as its president. He contested the 1936 State Council election from Balapitiya electorate and was elected to the 2nd State Council of Ceylon. There he joined the executive committee on Health.
Post-independence
He contested the 1947 general election from the Ambalangoda-Balapitiya electorate from the United National Party, but lost. He left the United National Party and joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party when S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike formed the party in 1951. He was the second party secretary of Sri Lanka Freedom Party. He contested the 1952 general election from the Colombo Central electorate from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, but lost. He played a major role in the Bandaranaike's landslide victory in the 1956 general election. Following the death of Bandaranaike and the political upheaval that followed, Kularatne joined the United National Party. He contested and lost the March 1960 general election from the Ambalangoda electorate, but was elected to the House of Representatives in the July 1960 general election and sat in the opposition. He crossed over and sat as an independent member, having resigned from the United National Party over its opposition to the governments move to take over private schools run by the Church by the Assisted Schools and Training Colleges (Special Provisons) Act No 5 of 1960, which he supported. He lost his seat in the 1965 general election when he contested from the Ambalangoda electorate from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.[4]
Attempted military coup
On Saturday 27 January 1962 Kularatne, who was in Ambalangoda, received a call from his daughter Maya. She informed him that her husband
Later life
In the late 1960s he became the Chairman of the publishing house, Kularatne & Co. He died on 16 November 1976. His remains lay in state at Ananda College, before final rites took place at the Colombo General Cemetery.
Personal life
Kularatne married Hilda Muriel Westbrook on 11 December 1920. She had come to Ceylon from
He was a member of the
Legacy
Patrick de Silva Kularatne died on 16 November 1976 and was honoured as a national hero by the release of a stamp by Sri Lanka Post on 22 May 1987. Ananda College paid tribute to him by erecting an auditorium and naming it the 'Kularatne Hall' and the Kularathna Maha Vidyalaya in Ambalangoda was named after him.[5]
See also
- 1962 Ceylonese coup d'état attempt
References
- ^ FORGOTTEN HEROES BEHIND THE TRUE STORY OF FREE EDUCATION AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN SRI LANKA Prabath de Silva, Daily Mirror, 21-07-2020
- ^ A fresh look at Kannangara Reforms Eric J. de Silva, The Island/Medium, 13-07-2021
- ^ P. de S. Kularatne – legend of Ananda, Janaka Perera, Asian Tribune
- ^ a b Kurukularatne, Buddhika. "'P. de S. Kularatne — some personal reminiscenses". Island. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ^ Birth of a great Buddhist educationist, The Sunday Times
- Nalanda College Colombo History How it all began...
- Welcome to Battle of the Maroons - Ananda vs Nalanda
- Pinbara Udesana (පින්බර උදෑසන) | 2017-02-12 | 8.30 AM (නාලන්දා විද්යාලය (කොළඹ 10))
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