Right Reverend Jacob Bastiampillai Deogupillai (9 April 1917 – 25 April 2003) was a

Ceylon Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

priest and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Bishop of Jaffna.

Early life and family

Deogupillai was born on 9 April 1917 in

Karampon Karampon (also known as ''Karampan'') ( ta, கரம்பொன்) is a village located in Kayts, Velanai Island, off the Jaffna Peninsula, Northern Sri Lanka. The majority of the people are Hindus along with a minority of Christians C ...

on the island of

Velanaitivu Velanai Island ( ta, வேலணை), also known as ''Leiden'' in Dutch, is a small island off the coast of Jaffna Peninsula in the North of Sri Lanka. There are number of villages within the island such as Allaipiddy, Mankumpan, Velanai, Sa ...

in northern Ceylon. He was educated at St Anthony's College, Kayts, and at

St Patrick's College, Jaffna , motto_translation = By faith and labour , location = Mathews Road, Gurunagar , city = Jaffna , province = Northern Province , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates ...

. He then studied at the

Propaganda College Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

. He later received a BA degree from the

Ceylon University College Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

and a

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on the g ...

from the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Unive ...

Career

Deogupillai was ordained as a priest in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in December 1941. After returning to Ceylon he served as parish priest of

Karaveddy Karaveddy is a town located 7 km from the City of Point Pedro, Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. In local Tamil Language it translates to ''Coastal Strip'', although it is few km from the coast. Karaveddy Pradeshya Sabha is the administrative ...

. He taught for a while before becoming rector of St. Joseph's College, Anuradhapura. He was later rector of Sacred Heart College, Karaveddy, St. Henry's College, Ilavalai and the Teacher Training College, Colombuthurai. After the government took over the Teacher Training College in 1961 Deogupillai resigned as rector and became parish priest of Ilavalai. In 1967 he was called to be Bishop Auxiliary to Bishop Ignatius Glennie of Trincomalee. After few years of episcopal experience he succeeded Bishop Emilianuspillai in 1971 as the first diocesan Bishop of Jaffna. He retired in July 1992. Being a historian and an educationist for a greater part of his life, he encouraged his clergy to study the history of the Church as well as of the tradition and cultures of the Tamil People. He had already imbibed from his family a preferential love for the arts and cultures. He went a long way to promote the initiatives of Rev.Fr.N.M Saverimuthu through his center for performing arts and others who tried to preserve Tamil drama. Besides the harm done to the Catholic children the Catholic Teachers were also affected by the " Schools Take Over". One of his moves to streamline the Catechetical center was to bring Catholic teachers Under it aegis and to organize regular retreats and performance enhancing seminars and updating study programs. The ethnic situation and the questionable safety of Tamil students in Kandy hastened his vision for the future and made him establish the Philosphate in Jaffna in 1981, which later becomes St. Francis Xavier Seminary, affiliated to the Urban University in Rome.

Later life

After retirement in 1991 Deogupillai lived at St. Martin's Seminary, Jaffna. He received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

University of Jaffna The University of Jaffna ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், translit=Yāḻppāṇap Palkalaikkaḻakam; si, යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ''Yāpanaya Viśvavidyālaya''; ...

for his literary contributions. Deogupillai died on 25 April 2003. His funeral took place on 28 April 2003 at St. Mary's Cathedral, Jaffna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deogupillai, J. B. 1917 births 2003 deaths Alumni of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna Alumni of the Ceylon University College Alumni of the University of Ceylon Roman Catholic bishops of Jaffna People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon Pontifical Urban University alumni Sri Lankan Tamil priests 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sri Lanka