Richard Simon's Thomia

Review of “Thomia: The Entangled Histories of Lanka and Her Greatest Public School” by Richard Simon. In 2 volumes. Lazari Press. 869 pages.

- By UDITHA DEVAPRIYA

Richard Simon’s Thomia is a massive undertaking, though to describe it as such is to indulge in cliches hardly deserving of such books.

Where does one begin with a publication like this? It is, as the author notes at the beginning, not just a history of “Lanka’s greatest school”, but a fairly comprehensive and I would say eclectic history of Sri Lanka before and after British rule. The author is at his best when he draws attention to the parallel histories of school and country. Needless to say, he is at his best throughout.

This is the nth book on S Thomas’ College, and in many ways the most idiosyncratic. The first book on S Thomas’ came out during its Mutwal years: Christian David’s slim account, first published in 1894. This was followed by a series of special volumes and publications which culminated in W. T. Keble’s magnificent book in 1937, followed more than half a century later by Marc Bilimoria’s 75 Years at Mount. What distinguishes Simon’s book from all these works, fine as they are, is that Simon’s narrative is Simon’s own: it is not authorised, it lacks patronage, and, perhaps as a result, is surprisingly frank and sincere.

Thomia begins with the growth of the Evangelical missionary movement in the tropics. It proceeds to James Chapman’s arrival in Ceylon and describes in broad, evocative detail his efforts at founding a “native” Christian College. Chapman’s contribution, at a time when elite education in Colombo was restricted to the ubiquitous Colombo Academy, was immense to say the least. Yet as Simon notes, Chapman lacked official patronage and had to struggle in the first few years of S Thomas’ founding. When it was established on 3 February 1851, few would have entertained much hope for it.