James Thevathasan Rutnam (1905-1988) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

educationalist Education sciences, also known as education studies or education theory, and traditionally called ''pedagogy'', seek to describe, understand, and prescribe education including education policy. Subfields include comparative education, educationa ...

, writer, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Born in Jaffna, he was educated at the

Manipay Hindu College Manipay Hindu College ( ''Māṉippāy Intu Kallūri'', ''Manipayi Hindu Vidyalaya'') is a provincial school in Manipay, Sri Lanka. The college was founded by A. V. Sangarapillai, father of Senator Sir Sangarapillai Pararajasingam. Motto, Vi ...

St. Joseph's College, Colombo St. Joseph's College is a selective-entry Roman Catholic school in Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1896 by French Missionaries led by Rev. Father Christophe Ernest Bonjean. The college has over 4,000 enrolled students with a staff of over 450 as o ...

and

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

, before entering the

Ceylon University College Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

and thereafter the

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enrol as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Le ...

for the

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

s course where he was the editor of the Law Students Magazine and won the Walter Pereira Prize.

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

was his contemporary. Leaving without completing his legal qualification, Rutnam became a teacher at Uva College, Badulla and

Wesley College, Colombo Wesley College popularly known as "Wesley" or "The Double Blues", is a Methodist school providing primary and secondary education in Sri Lanka since 1874. History In 1858, Rev. Joseph Rippon wanted to establish a superior educational instit ...

and was the Principal of St. Xavier's College, Nuwara Eliya. Rutnam was associated with

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of ...

during his early days having joined Progressive Nationalist Party and the

Ceylon National Congress The Ceylon National Congress ( Sinhala: ලංකා ජාතික කොන්ග්‍රසය ''Lanka Jathika Kongrasaya'') (CNC) was a political party in colonial-era Ceylon founded on 11 December 1919. It was founded during a period where ...

. He unsuccessfully contested for the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...

from Nuwara Eliya and was defeated by

E. W. Abeygunasekera Edwin Wilfred Abeygunasekera was a member of the 1st and 2nd State Councils of Ceylon. Abeygunasekera was elected to the State Council of Ceylon on 20 June 1931, representing Nuwara Eliya as a member of the Labour Party, defeating James T. Rut ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

and by

M. D. Banda Mohottalage Dingiri Banda (known as ''M.D Banda'') was a former Divisional Revenue Officer (DRO) and subsequently a Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Under the British Colonial Regional Administration system in 1 ...

in the by-election that followed Abeygunasekera resignation in 1943. Rutnam unseated Banda in an election petition. He contested the 1947 general elections and the 1952 general elections from

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( ; ) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrative capital of Nuwara Eliya District, with a picturesque landsc ...

without success. He is the founder of the Evelyn Rutnam Institute for Inter-Cultural Studies.

References

External links

James T. Rutnam - a versatile servant

*

The Leading Characters in the Political Turmoil of Sinhalese-Muslim Riots of 1915 by Sachi Sri Kantha

Rajah Rutnam — Sri Lanka’s first immigrant to US

* ttp://sundaytimes.lk/030119/columns/cv.html When Sinhalese supported and Tamils opposed federalism
A Century of Tamil Poetry in Sri Lanka

In Memory of James Rutnam

Meeting Thiru Arumugam in Toronto

by Silan Kadirgamar
"The House of Nilaperumal"
by James T.Rutnam Sri Lankan Christians Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan civil servants Tamil politicians 1905 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan historians Sri Lankan historians {{SriLanka-bio-stub