Eugene John Hebert

Eugene John Hebert
Father Eugene Hebert in the 1950s
Born	(1923-10-09)October 9, 1923 Jennings, Louisiana, United States
Disappeared	August 15, 1990 (aged 66) Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
Nationality	American
Education	Degree in Theology
Occupation	Jesuit priest
Employer	Jesuits
Known for	Human rights activist

Father Eugene John Hebert was an American-born Jesuit missionary in Sri Lanka. He along with his Tamil driver Betram Francis disappeared on August 15, 1990 as the Sri Lankan civil war was raging. He went missing on his way to the eastern city of Batticaloa from a nearby town of Valaichchenai. He was known for his Human Rights activity on behalf of the local civilians. The Jesuits believe that he was killed along with his driver.

Eugene John Hebert was born in Jennings, Louisiana, United States, on October 9, 1923. He joined the Jesuits on August 14, 1941 at the age of 17. After completion of Jesuit studies, he volunteered for the Ceylon Mission. He was accepted and arrived in September 1948. After serving a year in the eastern township of Batticaloa and another in Trincomalee at the Jesuit Colleges he went to Poona, India, for the study of Theology. He was ordained priest on 24 March 1954.

After returning to Ceylon in April 1956, he was assigned to St Joseph’s college in Trincomalee as a teacher and sports coach. He was named principal there for a brief period. In the 1970s, Jesuit schools were taken over by the State, and Fr. Hebert was sent to Batticaloa to work at the Eastern Technical Institute, the joint Jesuit and Methodist technical institute, as its director. He was also the basketball coach at St Michael’s College in Batticaloa, where he achieved national championship status over several years.