Celestina Dias

Patthinihennadige Warnadeepthia Kurukulasuriya Celestina Rodrigo, MBE (known as Mrs. Jeremias Dias; 11 July 1858 – 26 March 1933) was a Ceylonese philanthropist and businesswoman.

[1][2] She was the founding patron (1917) of the premier Buddhist School for girls in Sri Lanka; Visakha Vidyalaya, located in Bambalapitiya, Colombo.

[3] They were proprietors of coconut property, distillers, renters and exporters of arrack, one of the few avenues open to natives for growth and enterprise during the early colonial period.

The innumerable religious and social service activities initiated by her have helped a large number of organizations to fulfill their objectives.

[17][18] Her son Arthur V. Dias and grandson Wilmot A. Perera were also famous philanthropists and activists of the Sri Lankan independence movement.