Celestina Dias
{{Short description|Ceylonese philanthropist and businesswoman}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Celestina Dias
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|MBE}}
| image = Celestina Dias (Mrs. Jeremias Dias).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Celestina Dias aka Mrs. Jeremias Dias
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1858|07|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Nalluruwa, Panadura
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1933|03|26|1858|07|11|df=y}}
| death_place = Panadura
| nationality = Ceylonese
| spouse = Jeramias Dias
| other_names = Mrs. Jeremias Dias
| occupation = philanthropist, businesswoman
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Patthinihennadige Warnadeepthia Kurukulasuriya Celestina Rodrigo, {{postnominals|country=GBR|MBE}} (known as Mrs. Jeremias Dias; 11 July 1858 – 26 March 1933) was a Ceylonese philanthropist and businesswoman. She was a pioneer in the field of Buddhist Girls' education and women entrepreneurs.[http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=103059 Remembering…Selestina Rodrigo - Mrs Jeremias Dias] - Dr Harsha Boralessa (the Island) Accessed January 15, 2015[https://books.google.com/books?id=1NLMCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 People's Spaces: Coping, Familiarizing, Creating], Nihal Perera, p.57 (Routledge) {{ISBN|0415720281}} She was the founding patron (1917) of the premier Buddhist School for girls in Sri Lanka; Visakha Vidyalaya, located in Bambalapitiya, Colombo.[http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=99788 Mrs. Jeremias Dias:A visionary of the 20th Century] by Dr. Ganga de Silva (The Island) Accessed January 15, 2015 and few years later Sri Sumangala Girls College, Panadura.{{cite news|last=Fernando|first=Dr. Neville|title=A century of wisdom|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/991226/plus9.html|work=The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)|date=26 November 1999}}
Early life
She was born in the coastal town of Nalluruwa, Panadura to an old aristocratic family.[http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140511/plus/the-rodrigos-celebrate-175-years-of-helping-the-needy-98410.html The Rodrigos celebrate 175 years of helping the needy] by Ara Rasool (Sunday Times) Accessed January 15, 2015[http://www.sundaytimes.lk/131215/plus/a-lasting-legacy-from-the-19th-century-76265.html A lasting legacy from the 19th century] (Sunday Times) Accessed January 15, 2015[http://karava.org/family_names/panadura_rodrigo_family The Rodrigo family of Panadura] (Karava of Sri Lanka) Accessed January 15, 2015 Her father was Pattinihennadige Warnadeepthia Kurukulasuriya Salaman Rodrigo and her mother was Mahawaduge Madalena Perera. She was the third in a family of seven girls and two boys. They were proprietors of coconut property, distillers, renters and exporters of arrack, one of the few avenues open to natives for growth and enterprise during the early colonial period.[http://www.sundaytimes.lk/001217/plus5.html When the 'nobodies' made their mark] (Sunday Times) Accessed January 15, 2015[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/nobtosom.html Extracts from 'Nobodies to Somebodies - The Rise of the Colonial Bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka'], Kumari Jayawardena, (Social Scientists' Association and Sanjiva Books). {{ISBN|955-9102-26-5}} Accessed January 15, 2015 They were also pioneers in the rubber and the hotel industry.[http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=103465 Charity begins at home – The Rodrigo Saga] by Leelananda De Silva (The Island) Accessed January 15, 2015 The family descends from Thome Rodrigo, a prince who signed the Convention of Malvana in 1597.
Philanthropic activities
Mrs Dias was known for her social service and philanthropy, which was recognized with her appointment as a Member (Civil Division) of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1929 Birthday Honours for her charitable service to Ceylon.{{cite web |title=SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 3 JUNE, 3929. |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33501/supplement/3679 |website=thegazette.co.uk |publisher=The London Gazette |access-date=21 February 2022}}
= National service =
In 1917, she established Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo. The funds for setting up the school were derived from the profits from a rubber estate in Matugama: Good Hope Estate. Rs 100,000 was put on trust to set up the school, Rs 50,000 to acquire land and the remaining Rs 50,000 was to be used for its upkeep. She entrusted its management to the likes of D. S. Senanayake Dr. W. A. de Silva, Baron Jayatilaka and the Buddhist Theosophical Society[http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=77771 Philanthropy in the twentieth century] by Leelananda de Silva (The Island) Accessed January 15, 2015[http://ssalanka.org/books/the-story-of-selestina-rodrigo-mrs-jeremias-dias/ The Story of Selestina Rodrigo (Mrs. Jeremias Dias): Pioneer in Buddhist Girls’ Education] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118164641/http://ssalanka.org/books/the-story-of-selestina-rodrigo-mrs-jeremias-dias/ |date=2015-01-18 }}, Manel Tampoe (Book Review) Accessed January 15, 2015
She also built a modern laboratory for Ananda College, Colombo in 1916, which helped it to be recognized as a Grade-1 status institute of higher education and eligible for the government grant and a Sanatorium for Buddhist monks.[http://www.infolanka.com/org/ananda/achistory.html Ananda History: Wilson Dias memorial Laboratory] (Insolanka) Accessed January 15, 2015
= Buddhism movement and legacy =
She was a former President of the Panadura Association and a chief patron-custodian of the Rankot Viharaya, Panadura and Vajiraramaya, Bambalapitiya. She assisted in the campaign to resurrect Buddhism in this country. The innumerable religious and social service activities initiated by her have helped a large number of organizations to fulfill their objectives. She is widely regarded as the pioneer lady/female entrepreneur and philanthropist of the island.[http://www.ft.lk/2014/11/22/one-mans-vision/ One man’s vision] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118164055/http://www.ft.lk/2014/11/22/one-mans-vision/ |date=2015-01-18 }} by D.C. Ranatunga (Daily FT) Accessed January 15, 2015
She died on March 26, 1933.
Personal life
She married Jeramias Dias of Panadura, a businessman, planter and pioneer Buddhist revivalist, who was instrumental in organizing the world-famous "Panadura Vivadaya/Debate".[https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2010/06/13/spe40.asp The Great Panadura Debate] by S. de F. Jayasuriya (Sunday Observer) Accessed January 15, 2015 They had eight children; Harry, Lillian, Arthur Vincent, Edmund Wilson, Adeline, Ellen, Rosalind and Charles. After the death of her husband in 1902, she became the managing director of the business concerns of the family. The "Panadura Vivadaya/Debate" was the turning point in the Buddhist revival movement in the island, which attracted the likes of Henry Steel Olcott. What is not quite so famous is that the Wesleyan chapel was also built by the Rodrigo family and Mathaes Swaris Rodrigo Goonewardane, the churchwarden on whose land the church was built invited the parties for a debate.[https://books.google.com/books?id=QNoGAAAAYAAJ&q=leslie The Story of Selestina Dias: Buddhist Female Philanthropy and Education] - Manel Tampoe, p. 23 (Social Scientists' Association) {{ISBN|9550762165}}[http://archives.dailynews.lk/2011/03/07/fea15.asp Methodist Church, Panadura celebrates 150 years] - Nalin Peiris (Daily News) Accessed January 15, 2015
Her son Arthur V. Dias and grandson Wilmot A. Perera were also famous philanthropists and activists of the Sri Lankan independence movement. She is a grandaunt of Mahesh Rodrigo and Aravinda de Silva.
References
- H. L. Seneviratne (1999). The Work of Kings: The New Buddhism in Sri Lanka. University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-74866-9}}.
- Ancestry.com, rootsweb, [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen3008.htm "Sri Lankan Sinhalese Family Genealogy"].
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dias, Celestina}}
Category:Sri Lankan businesspeople
Category:Sri Lankan philanthropists
Category:Ceylonese Members of the Order of the British Empire