Louis Edmund Blaze
| Louis Edmund Blaze | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
29 September 1861 Kandy, Sri Lanka |
| Died | 4 August 1951 (aged 89) Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Education | Trinity College and Collegiate School; University of Calcutta |
| Alma mater | Trinity College; University of Calcutta |
| Occupation | Educator, author, historian |
| Known for | Founder and first principal of Kingswood College, Kandy |
| Term | 1891–1923 |
| Successor | Rev. E. Pearson |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Maud née Avery |
| Children | Irene Clarice; Alice Rachel; Marie Louise |
| Parent(s) | Louis Ezekiel Blaze; Henrietta Charlotte née Garnier |
Louis Edmund Blaze, JP, OBE, BA (Calcutta), (29 September 1861 – 4 August 1951) was a Sri Lankan educationist and the founder and principal of Kingswood College, Kandy (1891–1923).
Louis Edmund Blaze (born 29 September 1861 in Kandy) was the fifth child and fourth son of Louis Ezekiel Blaze (1827–1894), a coffee merchant, and Henrietta Charlotte née Garnier (1833–1899). His grand parents, John Henry Blaze and Margareta Caroline née de Joodt, were headmaster and headmistress of schools in Paiyagala in the Kalutara District. His eldest brother, John Thomas (1853–1921), studied at Lincoln College, Oxford, was admitted to the bar in June 1877 and became a lecturer in law and editor of the newspaper, Ceylon Examiner. One of his other brothers, Robert Ezekiel (1863–1916), was the crown proctor of Badulla.
Blaze was one of the first group of students to study at Trinity College, Kandy (then known as the Trinity College and Collegiate School), at the time of the founding of the school by Rev. Richard Collins for the Church Mission Society in 1872. Whilst at Trinity he produced a school magazine, which appeared in manuscript form, on 15 May 1876, and later issued fortnightly as The Gleaner. In 1880 at age nineteen he passed the first examination in Arts at the University of Calcutta, following which he took up an appointment as the head master of the lower school at Trinity College. Uncertain as to whether his career lay in education he resigned a month later to become a law student however he was more interested in literature and cultivated a talent for writing poetry. In December 1882 he returned to Calcutta completing his Bachelor of Arts examination at the University. Between 1883 and 1890 Blaze taught for nearly two years in Calcutta, first at the Bishop’s College and then at St. James' School. After that he served as a second master and as acting head master at the Boys High School in Lahore. In these years, he read numerous works and found inspiration in the life and works of Dr. Thomas Arnold (1795–1842) the headmaster of Rugby School. In this respect he wrote, "Anecdotes of Eaton, Harrow and Winchester which I eagerly read and remembered revealed much and their school songs stirred me deeply, as indeed they stir all youthful souls". Then he thought of founding a public school by himself, writing "What disturbed me in Ceylon schools and in all other schools known to me were the strange distance between Teacher and Pupil and the needlessly hostile relations that existed between them. Another thing that I specially disliked was the craze for judging the merits of a school by the examination results." He returned to Ceylon in January 1891.
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