Marie Musaeus Higgins (18 May 1855 – 10 July 1926) was a German educationist, best known as the founder and principal of Musaeus College 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 ...

. She also authored several publications based on

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and Sinhala cultural themes, including ''Poya Days'' in 1924. She is recognised as an important figure in the pre-independence Buddhist revival in

and a pioneer in female education in the country.

Biography

Marie Musaeus was born on 18 May 1855 in

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

, which was part of the

Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hous ...

in Germany, her father, Theodore Musaeus, was a High Court Judge. In Germany, she studied languages, art and music, after she completed her education, she became a "Frau Professor. In the 1880s, she went to the United States with her brother where she met her husband, Anton Higgins, who was a U.S. Army officer. Anton was a Theosophist and Marie Higgins eventually founded the Blavatsky Theosophist Lodge. Her husband died a few years after their marriage, and Higgins went to

Ceylon 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 ...

to join Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. She arrived in Ceylon on 10 November 1889 onboard the ‘’Prussian’’. Responding to the inaction of the

Buddhist Theosophical Society Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of Euro ...

, a group of women's organised the Buddhist Women's Educational Society and established four schools, amongst which was the Sangamitta Girls' School in

Maradana Maradana is a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Maradana is the site of Maradana Railway Station, one of the primary railway hubs in the country, serving intercity rail and commuter rail. Maradana also has many railway yards and running sheds. A te ...

, for which Higgins was invited to be the principal. Higgins later founded the Musaeus Girls' Boarding School in 1891 on land in Cinnamon Gardens, donated by

Peter de Abrew Peter De Abrew, MBE (1862–1940) was a Ceylonese industrialist and philanthropist. Born to William de Abrew, a successful businessman of Portuguese descent, Peter De Abrew was educated at the Colombo Academy (now Royal College, Colombo). Going i ...

and his father William de Abrew. The first building was a simple small mud hut, but eventually was replaced with a brick building in 1895. She continued to serve as the school's principal until her death on 10 July 1926.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Marie Musaeus 1855 births People from Wismar 1926 deaths Heads of schools in Sri Lanka German Buddhists Buddhist writers German emigrants to Sri Lanka