SirSir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Don Baron Jayatilaka (13 February 1868 - 29 May 1944) (known as
D.B Jayatilaka) was a
Sri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
n educationalist, politician and diplomat.
Born at Waragoda,
KelaniyaKelaniya is a small town near Colombo, Sri Lanka in the Gampaha District. It is known for the Buddhist temple built on the banks of the Kelani River, which runs through the town...
, he was the eldest male child of Don Daniel Jayatilaka, a government contractor, and his wife Liyanage Dona Elisiyana Perera Weerasinha. He had two brothers, and two sisters, both of whom died young.
When he was seven years Jayatilaka was sent to the
Vidyalankara PirivenaVidyalankara Pirivena is one of the largest Buddhist pirivenas in Sri Lanka. Located in Peliyagoda, it is nearly 100 years old. Under the pirivena's leadership, several schools were started in the region; one is Sri Dharmaloka College, one of the primary colleges in the region....
, where he learned Sinhala,
Pali
and
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
by Ratmalane Sri Dharmaloka Thera. To study
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and other subjects in the English medium, he was sent to the local
BaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
school from where he was sent to
Wesley CollegeWesley College, Colombo is a Methodist educational institution in Sri Lanka.In 1858 Rev. Joseph Rippon wanted to establish a superior educational institution for the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in South Ceylon. On March 2 1874 Wesley College, Colombo is a Methodist educational institution in Sri...
in 1881, there he passed the junior and senior Cambridge examinations, traveling daily by cart from Kelaniya to the
PettahPettah is an urban neighbourhood of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala.-Location:Pettah is on the way to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport and Shanghumugham Beach. Private and KSRTC buses connect Pettah to most parts of the city.The railway station at Pettah is...
. He served as the Principal of Dharmaraja College and
Ananda CollegeAnanda College , Colombo which is considered as the leading National school in Sri Lanka, was established on November 1, 1886, by the Buddhist Theosophical Society led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott...
.
Jayatilaka was
knightedThe rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1943.
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