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Dr. Thelma Gunawardena (1934–2015) was the first female Director of the
In 1982 Gunawardena became the Director of National Museums and Director of the National Museum of Colombo. She served as Director of the National Museum of Colombo from 1982 through 1994. She contributed to the establishment of the
National Museum of Colombo
The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importanc ...
. She was also the Director of National Museums for 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 ...
.
Life
Thelma de Alwis was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1934. She attended the University of Colombo where she received a Bachelor of Science in zoology. In 1961 she married G. J. P. Gunawardane with whom she had four sons. She subsequently attended the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England, earning her PhD in entomology in 1968. In the 1970s Gunawardena worked on reducing insect damage to coconut trees, an important agricultural product in Sri Lanka.
In 1982 Gunawardena became the Director of National Museums and Director of the National Museum of Colombo. She served as Director of the National Museum of Colombo from 1982 through 1994. She contributed to the establishment of the Colombo Dutch Museum
The Colombo Dutch Museum is a museum that covers the history of the Dutch colonial rule in Sri Lanka.
The building
The two storey colonnaded building on Prince Street, Pettah (Colombo 11) which houses this museum was constructed during the Dutch ...
, the National Museum of Galle
The National Museum of Galle (Galle National Museum) is one of the national museums of Sri Lanka. It is located in the oldest remaining Dutch building in the Galle fort, Galle, a single storey colonnaded Dutch building built in 1656 as the commi ...
, the National Museum of Natural History, Colombo
The National Museum of Natural History is a museum that covers the natural heritage of Sri Lanka. The museum is located closer to the National Museum of Colombo. It was established on September 23, 1986 and became only one museum in Sri Lanka that ...
, and the National Maritime Museum in Galle.
Gunawardena died on 23 January 2015.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunawardena, Thelma 1934 births 2015 deaths Sri Lankan curators Sri Lankan women curators