The American Center or the former United States Chancery are currently used as the offices of
USAid
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
in
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The building is located on Galle Road,
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
.
History
The building was originally built by
J. H. Meedeniya
Meedeniye Rajakaruna Senanayaka Panditha Herath Wasala Kupuppu Mudiyanse Ralahamillage Punchi Banda John Henry Meedeniya (''known as J. H. Meedeniya Adigar '') (1867 - 1931) was a Ceylonese legislator and a headmen. He was the Kandyan Sinhalese m ...
Adigar, which he named ''Rickman House''. It was the home of
D. R. Wijewardena
Don Richard Wijewardena ( Sinhala:දොන් රිච්ඩ් විජෙවර්ධන) (23 February 1886 – 13 June 1950) was a Sri Lankan press baron who was involved in the Sri Lankan independence movement. A successful entrepreneur ...
(the founder of the
Lake House newspaper group), who married Meedeniya's eldest daughter Alice. The property is relatively unique as its land title, under the original old Dutch deed, extends down to the ocean, only one of a few such cases in Colombo.
In 1903 the building was purchased by Wijewardena's mother, Helena, who subsequently demolished the existing residence and rebuilt a new dwelling, ''Sri Ramya''.
The new dwelling was designed by
Herbert Henry Reid.
Wijewardena occupied the residence until her death in 1940. In May 1934, the Indian poet,
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
and the Indian painter,
Nandalal Bose
Nandalal Bose (3 December 1882 – 16 April 1966) was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Contextual Modernism.
A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was known for his "Indian style" of painting. He became the principa ...
, stayed at the house for a fortnight, when Tagore brought a troupe of
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
dancers to Ceylon.
In 1951 the building was purchased by the Government of the United States to serve as the
chancery of its
Embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
in Sri Lanka.
It functioned in that capacity until the United States Embassy moved to a new premises in 1984 and the building was transferred to USAid, for use as their offices.
Re: George Vanderspar
/ref>
See also
* Jefferson House
References
USAid Sri Lanka
{{Diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka
Diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka
Diplomatic missions of the United States
Diplomatic residences in Colombo
Sri Lanka–United States relations
British colonial architecture in Sri Lanka
Wijewardena family