This is a list of

notable Notability is the property of being worthy of notice, having fame, or being considered to be of a high degree of interest, significance, or distinction. It also refers to the capacity to be such. Persons who are notable due to public responsibi ...

Burgher people, who are a

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Ja ...

ethnic group, historically from Sri Lanka, consisting for the most part of male-line descendants of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries (mostly

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

) and local women, with some minorities of French and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Academics

* E. F. C. Ludowyk – Professor of English, Dean of the School of Arts, University of Ceylon * Prof.

E. O. E. Pereira Vidya Jyothi E. O. Eustace Pereira (13 September 1907 – 1988) was a Sri Lankan Engineer and Academic. He was the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, where he founded the Faculty of Engineering. He was known as the ''Father of moder ...

– founding Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Ceylon; Vice Chancellor Peradeniya

Civil servants

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Bertram Heyn Major General Deshabandu Bertram Russell Heyn (October 1, 1912 – February 3, 1998) was a Sri Lankan general and cricketer. He was a former Commander of the Ceylon Army. Early life and education Born to Gerald Chetwynd Swartz Heyn and ...

– Commander of Ceylon Army; cricket, field hockey and rugby star * Neville Jansz – Sri Lankan diplomat *

M. C. Sansoni Deshamanya Miliani Edward Claude Sansoni (18 November 1904 - 1979) was a Ceylonese judge, who served as the 32nd Chief Justice of Ceylon. Early life and education Born on 18 November 1904 to Claude Aldons Sansoni, JP, a Proctor and Hilda Gr ...

– Puisne Judge and then Chief Justice *

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Francis Soertsz – Supreme Court Judge * Wilhelm Woutersz – Sri Lankan diplomat * Dr. Richard Gerald Anthonisz - First Colonial Secretary and Chief Archivist of the National Archives of Ceylon.

Professionals

* Cecil Balmond – Structural engineer and architectural theoretician *

Louis Edmund Blaze Louis Edmund Blaze, JP, OBE, BA (Calcutta), (29 September 1861 – 4 August 1951) was a Sri Lankan educationist and the founder and the first principal of Kingswood College, Kandy (1891–1923). Biography Louis Edmund Blaze was born on 29 S ...

– Educator and founder of Kingswood College, Kandy * Frederick Dornhorst – Lawyer

Artists

Jean Arasanayagam Jean Arasanayagam (born Jean Solomons; 2 December 1931 – 30 July 2019) was a Sri Lankan poet and fiction writer. Although she wrote her books in English, they have been translated into German, French, Danish, Swedish and Japanese. Her husband ...

(née Solomonsz) – poet and painter * William Wright Beling – painter and father of Geoffrey Beling *

George Keyt George Percival Sproule Keyt, (17 April 1901 – 31 July 1993) was a Sri Lankan painter.

– painter and founding member of Colombo '43 Group * J. L. K. van Dort – 19th-century artist *

Lionel Wendt Lionel George Henricus Wendt (3 December 1900 – 19 December 1944) was a pianist, photographer, filmmaker and critic from Sri Lanka. He was the leader of ‘43 Group, a collective of Sri Lankan artists. The Lionel Wendt Art Centre is a major ...

– photographer and founder of the

Colombo '43 Group The '43 Group was a 20th-century modern art school established in August 1943 in Colombo, Sri Lanka (then British Ceylon). The group was essentially an association of like-minded artists who had broken away from the Ceylon Society of Arts, le ...

Authors

* David Blacker – author and blogger, winner of the State Literary Award for Best Novel in 2006 *

Michelle de Kretser Michelle de Kretser (born 1957) is an Australian novelist who was born in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), and moved to Australia in 1972 when she was 14. Education and literary career De Kretser was educated at Methodist College, Colombo, and in Melbo ...

- Australian novelist * Carl Muller – prolific author of many books including ''The Jam Fruit Tree'', ''The Yakada Yaka'', ''Once Upon a Tender Time'' and ''Children of the Lion'' *

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of multiple literary awards such as the Governor General's Award, the Giller P ...

– Canadian poet and author of numerous novels, including ''

The English Patient ''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters are: an unrecognisably burn ...

'' *

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (born April 21, 1975, in Worcester, Massachusetts) is a U.S. /Canadian poet, writer, educator and social activist. Their writing and performance art focuses on documenting the stories of queer and trans people of ...

– poet and activist *

Rosemary Rogers Rosemary Rogers (née Jansz; 7 December 1932 – 12 November 2019) was a Sri Lankan Burgher best-selling author of historical romance novels. Her first book, ''Sweet Savage Love'', was published in 1974. She was the second romance author, after ...

– best-selling author of romance novels in the USA; has been on the ''New York Times'' best-sellers list * Vivimarie Vanderpoorten – poet, winner of Gratiaen Prize 2009

Journalists

Frederica Jansz Frederica Jansz is a Sri Lankan journalist and former editor of ''The Sunday Leader''. During her time at newspaper she was highly critical of Sri Lanka's government. Her predecessor Lasantha Wickrematunge had been assassinated, and Jansz was s ...

– Sri Lanka journalist, editor of ''

The Sunday Leader ''The Sunday Leader'' was an English-language Sri Lankan weekly newspaper published by Leader Publications (Private) Limited. It was founded in 1994 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspapers are the ''Iruresa'' ('' Irudina'') and the de ...

Politics

* Peter Daniel Anthonisz – first President of the Ceylon Branch of British Medical Association; member of the Legislative Council *

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

David de Kretser David Morritz de Kretser, (born 27 April 1939) is an Australian medical researcher who served as the 27th Governor of Victoria, from 2006 to 2011. Early life and medical career David de Kretser was born in British Ceylon (now known as Sri La ...

– professor and Director for the Institute of Reproduction and Development,

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

; former

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and th ...

, Australia *

Pieter Keuneman Pieter Gerald Bartholomeusz Keuneman (3 October 1917 – 3 January 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician and a Marxist. He was the Cabinet Minister of Housing and Local Government and prominent Member of Parliament and a leading figure in the Commu ...

– Sri Lankan politician * Quint Ondaatje – Dutch patriot and politician * Beverley Pinder – Councillor, City of Melbourne, Australia; former Miss Australia

Chefs

Geoff Jansz Geoff Jansz (born 1958 ) is a Sri Lankan-born Australian chef and television presenter. Career After graduating from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Pharmacy in 1984, Geoff Jansz worked as a pharmacist, but later opened a restaur ...

– Australian TV chef * Charmaine Solomon – Australian resident chef and well-known writer of Asian cookbooks

Musicians and entertainers

Vasanthi Chathurani Vasantha Doreen Peterson (born 18 October 1959: si, වසන්ති චතුරානි), popularly as Vasanthi Chathurani, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema and television. An extremely natural actress, Vasanthi Chathurani is one of the ...

– actress * Elaine Cole – baila dancer *

Danielle de Niese Danielle de Niese (born 11 April 1979) is an Australian-American lyric soprano. After success as a young child in singing competitions in Australia, she moved to the United States where she developed an operatic career. From 2005 she came to wi ...

– Australian-American opera singer *

Stuart de Silva Stuart de Silva was a jazz pianist from Sri Lanka. He played in a group that broadcast on Sri Lankan radio backing among others, singer Yolande Bavan. Dave Brubeck later arranged for a scholarship for de Silva to study jazz compositions at Berklee ...

– Sri Lankan jazz pianist and actor * Jamie Durie – Australian media personality *

Jacqueline Fernandez Jacqueline Fernandez (born 11 August 1985) is a Sri Lankan actress and model. She has worked in Indian films, predominantly in Hindi, besides appearing in reality shows and music videos. Debuting with ''Aladin'' in 2009 she has since then es ...

– actor;

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

2006 contestant * Cliff Foenander – musician * Anton Jones – baila singer * Desmond Kelly – Australian musician; actor * Alston Koch – Australian musician *

Douglas Meerwald Earle Douglas (Dougie) Meerwald was a pioneering Ceylonese musician. Dougie Meerwald was the vocalist of one of the leading Ceylonese swing and dance bands of the early 1950s - The Manhattans. Western popular music and dance band music was all the r ...

– singer * Keith Potger – musician; member of

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...

; founder of

The New Seekers The New Seekers are a British pop group, formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music would have ...

* Gresha Schuilling – musician *

Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first ''Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's ''The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...

– Australian singer *

Gina Zamparelli Gina N. Zamparelli (8 May 1959 – 21 May 2018) was an American, Los Angeles–based, concert promoter. Family Zamparelli was the daughter of Sri-Lankan model and Miss Universe title-holder Maureen Hingert and American designer Mario Armond Za ...

–

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-based concert promoter

Fashion and models

* Nigel Barker – fashion photographer * Ramani Bartholomeusz – actress and model, represented Sri Lanka in the Miss Universe 1985 pageant * Sabrina Herft – Miss Sri Lanka for Miss Universe 2012 *

Maureen Hingert Maureen Neliya Ballard (née Hingert) (born 9 January 1937), also professionally known as Jana Davi is a former Sri Lankan dancer, model, actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Biography Hingert was born on 9 January 1937 in Colombo, Ceylon. ...

– represented Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) when Ceylon took part for the first time at the 1954

pageant; second runner-up * Dannielle Kerkoven – model and Former Miss Sri Lanka for Miss. World-2006

Athletes

Graeme Labrooy Graeme Fredrick Labrooy ( si, ග්‍රැහැම් ලැබ්‍රෝයි; born June 7, 1964, in Colombo) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in nine Tests and 44 ODIs from 1986 to 1992. He was the chairman of selectors for ...

– former Sri Lankan cricketer *

Christopher Ondaatje Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE, FRSL (; born 22 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian–English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of the author Mic ...

– former athlete; philanthropist * Laddie Outschoorn – England cricketer (

Worcestershire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Worcestershire. Its Vitality Blast T20 team has been rebrande ...

, 1946–1959); Cap 1948 *

Michael Vandort Michael Graydon Vandort (born 19 January 1980) is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He is one of the tallest batsmen ever to play test cricket and stands at 6 feet 5 inches. He made his ...

– Sri Lankan cricketer * Jeffrey Vandersay - Sri Lankan cricketer *

Duncan White Major Deshamanya Duncan M. White MBE, ED (1 March 1918 – 3 July 1998) was a Sri Lankan sportsman. He was the first Ceylonese athlete to win an Olympic medal, winning silver in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Eng ...

– Sri Lankan (then Ceylonese) 440m silver medalist at the London Olympics in 1948; gold medalist

1950 Empire games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

References

{{Reflist

Burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bu ...