View source for Jayathilake D.B (SNo:51837)

{{Short description|Sri Lankan Sinhalese educationalist, statesman and diplomat}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix        = [[The Honourable|Hon.]] Sir<!--Do NOT insert a paragraph break; and do not link per MOS:OVERLINK-->
| name                    = Don Baron Jayatilaka
| native_name             = <small>දොන් බාරොන් ජයතිලක</small>
| honorific_suffix        = [[Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|KBE]]
| image                   = Don Baron Jayatilaka (1868-1944).jpg
| imagesize               = 
| order1                  = '''[[Minister of Home Affairs (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Home Affairs]]'''
| predecessor1            = Position established
| successor1              = [[Arunachalam Mahadeva]]
| term_start1             = 10 July 1931
| term_end1               = 30 November 1942
| order2                  = '''[[Leader of the House (Sri Lanka)|Leader of the House]]'''
| predecessor2            = Position established
| successor2              = [[D. S. Senanayake|Don Stephen Senanayake]]
| term_start2             = 10 July 1931
| term_end2               = 30 November 1942
| order3                  = '''Vice-President of the [[Legislative Council of Ceylon]]'''
| president3              = [[Herbert Stanley]]<br>[[Bernard Henry Bourdillon]]<br>[[Graeme Thomson]]
| predecessor3            = [[James Peiris]]
| successor3              = Position abolished
| term_start3             = 1930
| term_end3               = 1931
| constituency_MP4        = 
| predecessor4            = 
| successor4              =
| parliament4             = 
| nationality             = [[Ceylon]]ese
| caption                 = 
| birth_name              = 
| birth_date              = {{Birth date|df=yes|1868|02|13}}
| birth_place             = Waragoda, [[Kelaniya]], Sri Lanka
| death_date              = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1944|05|29|1868|02|13}}
| death_place             = [[Bangalore]], India
| profession              = [[Barrister]] 
| occupation              = Politician, Diplomat, [[Educationalist]]
| spouse                  = Lady Mallika Batuwantudawe Jayatilaka
| children                = Three daughters and Two sons
| website                 =               
}}

'''Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka''', [[Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|KBE]] ([[Sinhala language|Sinhala]]:ශ්‍රීමත් දොන් බාරොන් ජයතිලක; 13 February 1868 – 29 May 1944) known as ''D.B. Jayatilaka'' was a Sri Lankan [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] [[educationalist]], [[politician|statesmen]] and diplomat. He was Vice-President of the [[Legislative Council of Ceylon]]; the Minister for Home Affairs and Leader of the House of the [[State Council of Ceylon]]; and Representative of Government of Ceylon in New Delhi.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/dbj.html Don Baron Jayatilaka]</ref> Sir D. B. Jayatilaka is also considered as a flag bearer of Buddhist education in Sri Lanka.<ref name="flag">{{Cite news |url=http://archives1.sundayobserver.lk/2017/02/12/thoughts/birth-anniversary-sir-db-jayatilaka-flag-bearer-buddhist-education |title=Birth Anniversary: Sir D.B. Jayatilaka - flag bearer of Buddhist education |last=Sirisena |first=Sunil S. |date=6 January 2019 |work=The Sunday Observer}}</ref>

==Early life==
Born at Waragoda, [[Kelaniya]], he was the eldest male child of ickremaratchi Imia Rajakaruna Liyana Atukoralage Don Daniel Jayatilaka Senanayake Liyana Aratchi of Pattalagedera, Veyangoda, a government servant, and his wife Liyanage Dona Elisiana Perera Weerasinghe, daughter of oriental scholar, Don Andiris de Silva Batuwantudawe of Werahena, [[Bentota]]. He had two brothers, and two sisters, both of whom died young.<ref name="Ratnasinghe">{{cite web |last1=Ratnasinghe |first1=Aryadasa |title=58th Death Anniversary :  Sir D.B. Jayatilaka - Scholar and national leader |url=https://www.worldgenweb.org/lkawgw/dbj.html |website=worldgenweb.org |access-date=7 August 2023}}</ref>

==Education==
When he was seven years Jayatilaka was sent to the [[Vidyalankara Pirivena]], where he learned [[Sinhalese language|Sinhala]], [[Pali]] and [[Sanskrit]] by [[Ratmalane Sri Dharmaloka Thera]]. To study English and other subjects in the English medium, he was sent to the local [[Baptist]] school from where he was sent to [[Wesley College, Colombo|Wesley College]] in 1881, there he passed the junior and senior Cambridge examinations, travelling daily by cart from [[Kelaniya]] to the [[Pettah, Colombo|Pettah]]. He applied for a clerical position in the government service, but was encouraged to follow higher studies. Jayatilaka graduated from the [[University of Calcutta]] with a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in 1896, having offered Latin and English.<ref name="Ratnasinghe"/>

== Teaching career==
On his return to Ceylon, he took to teaching, joining the staff of [[Wesley College, Colombo|Wesley College]] and then [[Dharmaraja College]], where he later became Principal. In December 1898, he was appointed Principal of [[Ananda College]] (formally known as English Buddhist School) which was managed by the [[Theosophical Society]] and served till December 1907.<ref name="ww1">{{cite web |title=58th Death Anniversary : Sir D.B. Jayatilaka - Scholar and national leader |url=http://www.worldgenweb.org/lkawgw//dbj.html |website=worldgenweb.org |access-date=9 August 2021}}</ref>

== Legal career ==
[[File:Jayatilake D-B pre1920.jpg|left|upright|thumb|150px|Jayatilaka  as a young barrister.]]
He left for Europe in 1910, spending three years there. During which he attended as the representative of Ceylon, at the Congress of Religions in [[Berlin]]. He read for a BA in [[jurisprudence]] from [[Jesus College, Oxford]] in 1913 which was later upgraded to an [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|MA]] some years later. He was called to the bar as a [[barrister]] from the [[Lincoln's Inn]] and became an [[advocate]] of the [[Supreme Court of Ceylon]]. Thereafter he started his legal practice in the Colombo [[unofficial bar]]  specialized in Buddhist ecclesiastical law, Buddhist temporalities and constitutional law.<ref name="ww1"/><ref>{{cite news |title=SIR DON BARON JAYATILAKA: THE EPOCH MAKER |url=https://dailynews.lk/2018/02/14/features/142735/sir-don-baron-jayatilaka-epoch-maker |access-date=9 August 2021 |work=Daily News}}</ref>

== Theological society ==
He first met Colonel [[Henry Steel Olcott]] in 1890 and joined his campaign to establish English medium Buddhist schools in the country. In 1890 he was appointed as the Principal of the Buddhist High School in [[Kandy]] (now [[Dharmaraja College]]), thereafter he became the Vice - Principal of the English Buddhist School in [[Colombo]] (now [[Ananda College]]) under Principal E. W. Buultjens. One year later in 1898 he succeeded Buultjens as Principal. He was instrumental in the establishment of the [[Young Men's Buddhist Association]] (YMBA) at [[Borella]] becoming its President in 1898 and holding the post until his death.<ref name="ww1"/>

==Political career==

=== 1915 riots and detention ===
During the [[1915 Ceylonese Riots|1915 riots]], he was arrested under orders of General Officer Commanding, Ceylon on claims of seditious speeches and writings. Imprisoned under Martial Law along with many leading personalities of the day. Soon after his release he left for Britain where he campaigned to end the injustices in Ceylon and agitated for a Royal Commission to investigate the 1915 riots. When the [[Ceylon National Congress]] was formed he became its representative in London.<ref name="Ratnasinghe"/>

=== Legislative council ===
He returned in 1919 and was elected president of the [[Ceylon National Congress]] in 1923. Soon thereafter he was elected from the Colombo District to the [[Legislative Council of Ceylon]] and was elected as its vice-president after the demise of Sir [[James Peiris]] in 1930. The post of president was held by the [[Governor of Ceylon]].

=== State council ===
[[File:Ministers of the Second State Council of Ceylon with the Speaker in 1936.jpg|right|upright|thumb|300px|Sir Baron Jayatilaka (Seated left) as a member of the Second State Council of Ceylon in 1936.]]
Following the constitutional reforms of the [[Donoughmore Commission]], Jayatilaka was elected to the newly formed [[State Council of Ceylon]] from Kelaniya in 1931. At the first siting of the State Council he was elected Leader of the House and Minister for Home Affairs. Shortly thereafter he was appointed vice chairman of the [[First Board of Ministers of Ceylon|Board of Ministers]]. Re-elected to the State Council in 1936, he was re-elected Leader of the House and Minister for Home Affairs and served until he resigned the State Council in November 1942. During World War II, he helped organise volunteers to unload food from ships at the Colombo harbour after it was deserted following [[Easter Sunday Raid#The attack on British Military bases in Colombo|Japanese air raids]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=WIJEWARDHANE |first1=RAVINDRA |title=Sir D.B. Jayatilaka A great Literati and Statesman |url=https://archives1.sundayobserver.lk/2022/02/13/feature/great-literati-and-statesman |access-date=7 August 2023 |publisher=Sunday Observer}}</ref>

=== Representative of Ceylon in India ===
In August 1943, he went to India to negotiate food shipments to Ceylon after they were stopped by the Indian Government. Following successful completion of negotiations he was appointed as [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India|Representative of Government of Ceylon to India]] in New Delhi. 

== Honors ==
He was knighted as a [[Knight Bachelor]] in the [[1932 New Year Honours]] for his service as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Ministers and Leader of the State Council of the Island of Ceylon.<ref>{{cite web |title=THE LONDON GAZETTE, 1 MARCH, 1932. |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33804/page/1418 |website=thegazette.co |publisher=The London Gazette |access-date=7 August 2023}}</ref> Sir Baron Jayatilaka was appointed a [[Order of the British Empire|Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (KBE) in the [[1943 Birthday Honours]] while he served as the representative of the Ceylon Government in India.<ref>{{cite web |title=SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 2 JUNE, 1943 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36033/supplement/2436 |website=thegazette.co.uk |publisher=The London Gazette |access-date=7 August 2023}}</ref>

== Social services ==
He served as president of the [[Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society]] from 1935 to 1941.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalasiaticsociety.lk/about-2/past-presidents/|title=Past Presidents|publisher=Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka|access-date= 7 January 2017}}</ref> He was the founding chief editor of the monumental monolingual etymological Sinhala dictionary, ''Siṃhala śabdakoṣaya'' (completed in 1992), and the related ''A Dictionary of the Sinhalese Language'' (with fascicles from 1985 titled ''A Dictionary of the Sinhala Language''.) His extraordinary leadership of the project and editorial service extended from 1927 through 1941.<ref>[http://www.dictionary.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=5&lang=en Sinhala Dictionary Office. “Former Editors”]</ref>

Sir D. B. Jayathilaka served as the president of [[Young Men's Buddhist Association]] for a continuous period of 46 years, from 1898 until his death in 1944. Under his influence Colombo YMBA inaugurated a program for promoting 'Dhamma School education', with  the obligation of giving every Buddhist child in Ceylon the gift of [[Dhamma]]”.<ref name="flag"/>

==Personal life==
He married Mallika Batuwantudawe, daughter of Robert Batuwanthudawa who owned the Lanka Abhihawa Visrutha Press that had published the [[Dinamina]] newspaper when it was owned by H. S. Perera, before it was taken over by [[D. R. Wijewardena]]. The marriage took place on 12 August 1898 at Waragoda, and produced five children, three daughters and two sons.<ref name="Ratnasinghe"/>

==Death and legacy==
In 1944, he fell ill and began his return to Ceylon. He died on 29 May 1944 due to a heart attack in [[Bangalore]]. His body was returned to Ceylon in a special plane for the final rites. Sir Baron Jayatilaka was highly respected during his lifetime by both Ceylonese and British. Following his retirement from the State Council, he held the first diplomatic appointment of the Government of Ceylon. 

On 4 January 1933, Jayatilaka had written his last will, in which he made the [[Public Trustee]] the sole executor of his estates and assets, including his residence [[Thurburn House, Colombo]], which he expected to be used as the offices of the Public Trustee Department.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gunatilleke |first1=Nadira |title=Sir D.B. Jayatilaka's 75th death anniversary The legacy of a remarkable educationalist |url=https://archives1.dailynews.lk/2019/05/27/features/186584/legacy-remarkable-educationalist |access-date=23 August 2023 |publisher=Daily News}}</ref> In 2018, a statue of Sir Baron Jayatilaka was erected at Thurburn House, Colombo.<ref>[http://www.ft.lk/news/Statue-of-D--B---Jayatilaka-unveiled-to-commemorate-150th-birth-anniversary/56-649654 Statue of D. B. Jayatilaka unveiled to commemorate 150th birth anniversary]</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Sri Lankan Non Career Diplomats]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/dbj.html  Sir D.B. Jayatilaka – Scholar and National Leader]
*[https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2009/05/31/fea13.asp A beacon of light]

{{Members of the 1924 Legislative Council of Ceylon}}
{{Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon}}
{{Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon}}
{{Leaders of the House (Sri Lanka)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayatilaka, Don Baron}}
[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of Wesley College, Colombo]]
[[Category:Ceylonese advocates]]
[[Category:Ceylonese Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Ceylonese Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Ceylonese people of World War II]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to India]]
[[Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon]]
[[Category:Principals of Ananda College]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British Ceylon]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan diplomats]]
[[Category:Sinhalese people]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan lawyers]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan barristers]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan Buddhists]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan educational theorists]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan Theosophists]]