College House, Colombo
College House is the administrative center of the University of Colombo, situated in the Cinnamon Gardens suburb of Colombo, it is a national heritage site.[1]
Formerly known as Regina Walauwa, it belonged to Charles Arthur Neville de Soysa, the grandson of Sir Charles Henry de Soysa.[2][3] It was purchased by the government of Ceylon in 1920 to establish the University College Colombo the following year.[4] The Library of the University College began in a room of the house with a collection of books belonging to A. Padmanabha, gifted by his father Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam.
Following the formation of the University of Colombo it became it administrative center and housed the office of the Vice Chancellor.[5] On March 8, 1989, elements of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna assassinated the Vice Chancellor, Prof Stanley Wijesundera at the Library Room in the College House.
A new building was constructed on the ground as part of the expansion of the university administration in the 1980s and to house the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
References
- ↑ Regina Walauwe: A College House of 100 Years Serendib magazine, Srilankan Airlines Web (Heritage) Retrieved 05 December 2014
- ↑ History; University of Colombo Retrieved 15 June 2017
- ↑ The De Soyas of Alfred House by Rupa de Soysa, p.95 (Karunaratne & Sons)
- ↑ The day the Queen came to Queen’s Road, recalls Stephen Prins Sunday Times Plus. Retrieved 10 December 2014
- ↑ India House, Colombo: Portrait of a Residence, Seventy Five Years of History and Home Life, Laki, Dominic Sansoni, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne (Vishva Lekha Publishers) pp.3-5 ISBN 9555992789