Colombo, March 16 -- During the Colonial era, Ceylon was a safe haven for foreigners in general, especially for emigres, missionaries, traders, idealists, and asylum-seeking migrants who surged in from all quarters of the globe to make permanent settlements on our sun-drenched Island. Among those who sought sanctuary in Ceylon, were the Jews. Although the vast majority of them were non-observant Jewish servicemen and traders from Continental Europe, there were also a significant number of Jewish emigres and theosophists who took up residence on the island.
The most renowned among them was Marie Musaeus Higgins, a German Jewess educationalist, in whose memory Musaeus College Colombo was named. Likewise, the founder of the Ceylon Buddhist Pu...