Marie Musaeus Higgins-Peter de Abrew Memorial Oration today

Saturday, 26 July 2025 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Marie Musaeus Higgins

Peter de Abrew

Organised by the Past Pupils’ Association of Musaeus College, Colombo, 29th Marie Musaeus Higgins-Peter de Abrew Memorial Oration will be held at 10 a.m. today at the Higgins Auditorium of Musaeus College.

This year’s oration will be delivered by distinguished past Musaeuite Dr. Iroja Caldera. A senior lecturer at Colombo University’s Department of Plant Sciences, Dr. Caldera is also an Attorney-at-Law.

The Founder Principal of Musaeus College, Marie Musaeus Higgins was the daughter of the Chief Justice of Wismar in Macklenberg, Germany. After having graduated and obtained the title of Frau Professor, she went to America and was engaged in educational work. Following the demise of her husband, A. Higgins an officer in the US army, she came to Ceylon to help Col. Olcott, in his educational mission towards the upliftment of Buddhists. With a rare and unflagging sense of dedication, she served the school named after her and the cause of Buddhist education until she passed away in 1926. The simple and modest school its founder started in a ‘mud hut’ has today evolved into a premier seat of learning for Buddhist girls, producing women of excellence in numerous disciplines, serving the country and the world at large.

Peter De Abrew was one of the pioneer stalwarts of the Theosophical Society of Ceylon. As a young, generous philanthropist, he was actively involved in the movement started by Colonel Henry Olcott and others towards the regeneration of the Buddhist culture which had sadly deteriorated during the last decades of the 19th Century. Together with his father, the late William de Abrew, who was also a member of this movement, Peter donated his own land to build Musaeus College where it proudly stands today. Peter de Abrew is celebrated as the ‘Founder-Father’ of the school.

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