# St. John's College, Jaffna

St. John's College (Tamil: பரி. யோவான் கல்லூரி Ceṉ. Yōvāṉ Kallūri, SJC) is a private school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1823 by British Anglican missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools.

## History

In 1817 the Anglican Church Mission Society (CMS) approved the establishment of missions in Ceylon. On 20 December 1817 four clergymen – Joseph Knight, Samuel Lambrick, Robert Major and Benjamin Ward – and their wives left England and sailed to Ceylon on board the Vittoria. They arrived in late June 1818. Knight went to Jaffna, Lambrick went to Colombo, Major and his wife went to Galle and Ward and his wife to Trincomalee. Knight started his missionary work in 1818 in Nallur.
The Nallur English Seminary was established in March 1823 by Knight. The school had only 7 students and was located in Knight's bungalow. In 1845 the school was relocated to Chundikuli and renamed the Chundikuli Seminary.
In the same year the Church Mission Society took over the old Portuguese St. John the Baptist church. In 1846 the school moved into a hall next to the church. The church was demolished in 1859 and replaced by the current church.
The school was renamed St. John's College in 1891. The free education system was introduced by the government in 1945 but SJC chose to remain outside the system. In 1951 SJC joined the free education system. Most private schools in Ceylon were taken over by the government in 1960 but SJC chose to remain as a private and non-fee levying school.
SJC's principal C. E. Anandarajah was shot dead on 26 June 1985 in Jaffna. It is alleged that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam assassinated Anandarajan for organising a cricket match with the Sri Lankan military.

## Big Match

SJC plays Jaffna Central College in the annual cricket match known as the "Battle of the North". The first match took place in 1904.

## Principals

* 1823-1825 Rev. Joseph Knight
* 1825-1839 Rev. W. Adley
* 1839-1841 Rev. F. W. Taylor
* 1841-1846 Rev. I. T. Johnstone
* 1846-1866 Rev. R. Pargiter
* 1866-1874 Rev. T. Good
* 1874-1878 Rev. D. Wood
* 1878-1879 Rev. E. Blackmore
* 1879-1889 Rev. G. T. Fleming
* 1889-1892 Rev. C. C. Handy (Acting)
* 1892-1895 Rev. J. W. Fall
* 1895-1899 Rev. I. Carter
* 1899-1900 Rev. R. W. Ryde
* 1900-1919 Rev. Jacob Thompson
* 1919 Rev. K. C. Mc Pherson (Acting)
* 1920-1940 Rev. Henry Peto
* 1940-1957 Rev. J. T. Arulanantham
* 1957-1959 P. T. Mathai
* 1959-1966 A. W. Rajasekeram
* 1967-1976 K. Pooranampillai
* 1976-1985 C. E. Anandarajan
* 1985-1987 T. Gunaseelan
* 1987 K. Pooranampillai
* 1988-1993 Dr. E. S. Thevasagayam
* 1990-1993 S. Thanapalan (Acting)
* 1993-2006 S. Thanapalan
* 2006-2019 Rev. N. J. Gnanaponrajah
* 2019 Ven. Samuel J. Ponniah (Acting)
* 2020- V. S. B. Thuseetharan

## Notable alumni

| Name | Notability |
| D. J. Ambalavanar | Bishop of Jaffna (Church of South India) (1971–1993) |
| C. E. Anandarajah | Principal St. John's College, Jaffna (1976–1985) |
| J. T. Arulanantham | Principal St. John's College, Jaffna (1940–1957) |
| K. D. Arulpragasam | Vice-Chancellor Eastern University (1986–1996) |
| S. Arumugam | Director of Irrigation, author |
| Y. Balaretnarajah | Major general Chief of the Defence Staff (1992) |
| Nishan Canagarajah | Pro-vice-chancellor University of Bristol (2014–present) |
| S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | leader Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi/Tamil United Liberation Front, member parliament – Kankesanthurai (1947–1952, 1956–1977) |
| R. R. Crossette-Thambiah | Solicitor General (1950–1951) |
| Alfred Duraiappah | member parliament – Jaffna (1960–1965), Mayor of Jaffna (1970–1975) |
| M. K. Eelaventhan | member parliament – National List (2004–2007) |
| Rajan Hoole | academic, human rights activist |
| Ratnajeevan Hoole | academic, professor electrical engineering |
| Clarence Jey | musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Visakan Kadirkamanathan | academic, professor signal & information processing |
| S. Kulendran | Bishop of Jaffna (Church of South India) (1947–1970) |
| K. C. Logeswaran | Governor of Western Province (2015–present) |
| T. Maheswaran | member parliament – Colombo (2004–2008) |
| C. Nagalingam | acting Governor-General (1954), acting Chief Justice (1954), Attorney General (1946–1947) |
| Satchi Ponnambalam | Puisne Judge – Supreme Court of Belize (1985–1993), Chief Magistrate of Belize, Senior State Advocate of Zambia |
| V. Ponnampalam | Gate Mudaliyar, President of the Jaffna Co-operative Bank |
| Nadarajah Raviraj | member parliament – Jaffna (2001–2006), Mayor of Jaffna (2001) |
| Sam A. Sabapathy | Mayor of Jaffna (1949, 1952–1955) |
| R. R. Selvadurai | Permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice (1951–1955) |
| Maithripala Senanayake | member parliament – Medawachchiya (1947–1989), Governor of North Central Province (1994–1998) |
| R. Sivagurunathan | journalist, editor – Thinakaran (1961–1994) |
| C. Suntharalingam | member parliament – Vavuniya (1947–1960) |
| Henry Thambiah | Supreme Court Judge (1960–1972) |
| C. J. T. Thamotheram | educationist |
| S. Vithiananthan | vice-chancellor University of Jaffna (1979–1988) |
| Dingiri Bandara Welagedara | member parliament – Kurunegala, Governor of North Central Province (1988–1989) |
| V. Yogeswaran | member parliament – Jaffna (1977–1983) |