Dr Prangige James John Quintus Peiris
Peiris, Dr. Prangige James John Quintus
Prangige James John Quintus Peiris, known as Quintus, was born on the 27th of March 1913, in Slave Island, Colombo to a Catholic Sinhalese family.
_______________________________
27 March 1913 to 8t May 1970
His father was Parangige James Abraham Peiris, a storekeeper at Lipton’s, hailing from Kehelwetta, and his mother was Balapuwaduge Eugene Mendis, of ancestry from Kalutara North and areas of Colombo and nearby villages. She was the daughter of postmaster B Stephen Mendis. Quintus had 2 elder sisters; Letitia and Florence, and 2 younger sisters; Merlyn and Hyacinth. He was the first cousin of the authoress Dorothy Rosalind Mendis (née Silva Jayasinghe, the first Sri Lankan woman to publish a book), the uncle of famous Sri Lankan cricketers Ranjit & Sunil Fernando, artist Swinitha Monica “Swarnee” Jayawardene (née de Mel) and the brother-in-law of Rear Admiral Royce de Mel and motor racer W D Ignatius.
Quintus grew up in areas of Colombo, which included Slave Island, Colpetty, Maradana and primarily, Kotahena, where his parents finally settled down in a house named Dorison Court. He attended St. Benedict’s College and was a top student who won many prizes. By the time he was 16, he had matriculated in Arithmetic, Chemistry, Physics, Religious Knowledge and Mathematics with honours. Following his matriculation, he studied and graduated from the University of Ceylon with the degree Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery Ceylon (LMS Cey).
After graduating as a doctor, he got an internship in Matara. He later worked as the Assistant Medical Officer of Health at the Kalutara Health Unit, as he lived in Kalutara for about 2 years after his marriage. He later worked at the Colombo General Hospital as the Assistant Radiologist and was promoted to the Chief Radiologist of the General Hospital. In 1942, he was sent for a six-month specialised deep-ray training course at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Bombay. He and his colleagues (Dr. A H N Welikala, who also attended the course, and Dr. H O Gunawardene) were put in charge of two deep-ray plants which arrived in Colombo in 1944, after they sent letters to the Government stating the necessity of said plants. He also attended the Indian Radiological Congress in 1946 as a delegate.
Quintus was awarded a four-year scholarship to England for postgraduate studies, to further specialise in Radiology. He left in 1950 and while in England, he worked at the famous St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. He completed his studies in half the assigned time and returned to Ceylon having obtained the qualification D.M.R.T and D.M.R.D. He was subsequently awarded the FFR Ireland Degree from the Radiology Faculty of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was the first Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) to have obtained the FFR degree from the Royal College of Surgeons. During his tenure as the Chief Radiologist of the Colombo General Hospital, he was a consultant to the private sector & consulted at a number of places, such as Colombo Clinic, Glass House, Joseph Fraser Memorial Nursing Home, Sulaiman’s Hospital, Galle Face Court and Philip’s Memorial Hospital (which was founded by his wife’s cousin’s husband Dr. M L C Fernando). Among his radiology colleagues were Drs. David Jayamanne, H O Gunawardene, H K T Fernando, A H N Welikala and Ananda Athukorale.
He was devoted to his work and died while in service. He was very studious and dedicated to his work and did not like to take long holidays or spend too much time for leisure. Although he was very bright academically and very qualified, he never sought publicity for his achievements. He was a private person in many ways. He was very interested in his childrens’ studies at school and encouraged them to do their best. He was also a devoted Christian and a loving father and husband.
He married Warnakula Arachchilalage Dona Mary Annie Sita Andris, the eldest daughter of W D Andris of “Josymar”, Paiyagala, on the 25th of June 1940 at St. Joseph’s Church, Maha Paiyagala in a traditional Catholic wedding. A well attended, lavish reception was afterwards held at the bride’s family home Josymar, for which many grand arrangements were made. Quintus and Sita had 3 children together; two sons Lalith and Senani, and a daughter Neelanthie. For a short time after Lalith’s birth, they resided in Paiyagala and Kalutara, but after he returned from Bombay, they resided in two houses in Colombo 5 (at Dikmans Road & Brownrigg Road) and finally one in Dehiwala (at Vanderwert Place).
Quintus Peiris died on the 8th of May 1970, after suffering a heart attack a few years earlier. He was survived by his wife Sita, children Lalith, Senani and Neelanthie, sisters and brothers-in-law Flo & Eddie Fernando, Merlyn Goonawardene and Hyacinth & Lionel Fernando, many siblings-in-law Freida & Royce de Mel, Philomena & Carl de Mel and W D & Joyce Ignatius, many nieces, nephews, cousins, extended relatives, friends, colleagues and an aunt. He was buried in the Roman Catholic section at Kanatte General Cemetery with his wife Sita (who died in 2003), sister Letitia (who died in 1950) and various other relatives.
His sons Dr. Lalith and Dr. Senani Peiris live in England and Australia, and his daughter Neelanthie Silva, resides in Sri Lanka. He now has 6 grandchildren (through all 3 of his children), who are by name Rovendra (and Sharoni), Nilouka (and Bruce), Rushan (and Cinda), Shyami (and Fadi), Pradeep (and Kishani) & Dilshan, and 9 great-grandchildren, Émilie, Gabriel, Raphaella, Quin, Jakob, Mikhail, Alessándra, Mikaela and Joel
Author
Quin Peiris (his great-grandson) with edits from Deborah Fernando (niece-in-law) and Paul Senani Peiris (his son)