Grace Jecks Paul (born 1901 – died after 1972) was a Tamil Christian educator from Sri Lanka. She was principal at three girls' schools in Sri Lanka, and a founding member of the Ceylon Federation of University Women in 1941.

Early life

Paul was born in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

, to Tamil Christian parents, Rev. Isaac Paul and Elizabeth Holsington Paul. Her grandfather, father, and uncles were pastors, connected with the

American Ceylon Mission The American Ceylon Mission (ACM) to Jaffna, Sri Lanka started with the arrival in 1813 of missionaries sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Although they had originally planned to work in Galle, the Briti ...

. She graduated from Uduvil Seminary and

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institu ...

before attending

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

in 1920. At Mount Holyoke, she was president of the Cosmopolitan Club. She graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1924, and pursued further studies at

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

. While a student in the United States, she attended the 19th Conference of Women's Foreign Missionary Societies in 1922, in Massachusetts. In 1924, she spoke at the Fourth Congress of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Washington.

Career

Paul taught science at Uduvil Girls' School, and was eventually principal of the school's bilingual program. From 1947 to 1955, she was principal at

Girls' High School, Kandy Girls' High School, Kandy is a national girls' school located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1879 by Wesleyan Methodist missionaries and the oldest school for girls in Kandy affiliated with the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka. History ...

, the school's first Sri Lankan head. From 1958 to 1964, she was principal of St. Paul's Girls School, Milagiriya. She was known for requiring laboratory work in her classes. In 1941 she was a founding member of the Ceylon Federation of University Women, along with

Doreen Young Wickremasinghe Doreen Wickremasinghe (''née'' Young;15 February 1907 – 29 May 2000) was a British leftist who became a prominent Communist politician in Sri Lanka and a Member of Parliament (MP). She was one of the handful of European Radicals in Sri Lanka ...

, Hilda Kularatne, Susan George Pulimood, Marjorie Westrop, and Clara Motwani. She was the only native-born founder of the organization, and its first Sri Lankan president, leading the federation from 1944 to 1946 and from 1958 to 1959.

Personal life

In 1932, she visited one of her brothers, clergyman and educator Charles Blackshear Paul, in Singapore and spoke on her experiences in the United States. She survived her brother Charles when he died in 1973.

References

External links

A 1923 photograph of Grace Paul
with other international students at Mount Holyoke College. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Grace 1901 births Year of death unknown People from Jaffna Sri Lankan Christians Mount Holyoke College alumni Sri Lankan educators Sri Lankan women educators