Patrick de Silva Kularatne

Patrick de Silva Kularatne (31 March 1893 – 16 November 1976) (known as P de S Kularatne) was a Sri Lankan (Sinhala Buddhist) educationist and politician. He was a Member of the State Council of Ceylon (1942-1947) and Member of Parliament (1960-1965). He served as Principal of Ananda College and Dharmaraja College and established Nalanda College Colombo, Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Moratuwa Vidyalaya and Dharmapala Vidyalaya. As a member of the executive committee on Education, he played an instrumental role in the realisation of free education from kindergarten to university. 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 Richmond College in Galle, where his form master was C. W. W. Kannangara. He had passed the Cambridge Junior Local exam with distinction in arithmetic and mathematics in 1907 and Cambridge Senior Local exam with distinction in Latin and mathematics in 1909, and won the Ceylon Mathematics Prize in 1910. In 1912, he transferred to Wesley College, Colombo and won the Government Arts Scholarship to study in Britain. He left Ceylon in March 1913 and entered University of London. He gained a BA in mathematics and a BSc in 1916; having enrolled in the University College, London, he gained an LL.B in 1917, becoming a barrister from the Middle Temple in November 1917. He had adopted the name Patrick de Silva Kularatne by this time. He was offered the post of principle of Ananda College by D. B. Jayatilaka and returned to Ceylon. Educationist career