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Charles Henry de Soysa Dharmagunawardana Vipula Jayasuriya Karunaratna Disanayaka popularly known as Charles Henry de Soysa, JP (3 March 1836 – 29 September 1890) was a Ceylonese entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was a pioneering planter, industrialist and was the wealthiest Ceylonese of the 19th century. He was instrumental in the establishment of the first Ceylonese bank, the Moratuwa carpenters guild, the Ceylon Agricultural and National Associations. He is widely regarded as the greatest philanthropist of the island for contributions which includes the De Soysa Maternity Hospital, the Prince and Princess of Wales Colleges, the Model Farm Experimental Station and many other institutions and acts of charity establishing infant-maternal healthcare and secular education for girls in the country. He would have been the island's first Knight Bachelor, but having died prior, his widow was given the rare honor of the use of the style and dignity of wife of the Knight Bachelor and was known as Catherine, Lady de Soysa.
De Soysa initiated measures to reduce the infant mortality rate by creating a supply of trained Sinhalese midwives. He later became the first person in Asia to gift a maternity hospital; the De Soysa Lying-In-Home at Borella, which was once his childhood residence. The original buildings of the Ceylon Medical College gifted by him and his uncle Mudliyar Susew de Soysa were also declared open on the same day by the Governor Sir James Robert Longden on 9 December 1879.
The Lunawa Hospital Moratuwa, the Panadura hospital, Marawila hospital, Hanguranketa dispensary, the Ingiriya hospital and the Bacteriological Institute (Medical Research Institute) headed by the erudite Dr Aldo Castellani were also gifted by the de Soysa family. The Victoria Memorial Eye Hospital, the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children and the Ophthalmology Departments of the Kandy and Galle hospitals also benefited from the de Soysa generosity. On a visit to Great Britain in 1886, De Soysa gave liberally to 20 major hospitals including the Guys Hospital London, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, Seamen's Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital. He also maintained a convalescent home at the Alfred House premises for the Buddhist clergy.
De Soysa was bitten by a rabid dog that strayed into Alfred House on 2 August 1890. It was originally decided to remove him to Paris for treatment, but he opted to remain in Ceylon and obtain native treatment. He died of rabies on 29 of September 1890. As per his wishes, he was instead buried outside the Holy Emmanuel Church in the graveyard next to his son who had died in his infancy. His mortal remains were laid to rest amidst a gathering described as the largest in the nineteenth century.
In addition to be appointed a Justice of the peace by Duke of Edinburgh, following his sudden death, his widow, became the first Sinhalese to be granted the use of the courtesy title of Lady and was known as Lady Catherine de Soysa, as a widow of a Knight Bachelor of the realm, with its style and precedence in February 1892.
De Soysa, the far sighted native entrepreneur and philanthropist played the role of a paternal figure in 19th century Ceylon. He was the first Ceylonese since the days of the Sinhalese kings to build and equip a complete hospital. He introduced a system of free education long before the state took on that responsibility. The example he set in philanthropy is unique in our annals; he catered from the womb to the tomb. In contrast to the latter day culture where institutions built by public funds, foreign gifts or collected through charities are named after individuals, particularly politicians, most institutions pioneered by De Soysa's personal wealth and foresight were in fact not named after himself. He was a public man of the first degree. The first steps towards a formation of a political process which later opened up the possibility of negotiating legislative reforms, self governance and independence were initiated with the stand taken by Mr. De Soysa and others. All the major political parties in Sri Lanka, with the exception of the Marxist and communalist parties can trace their origins even partly to the Ceylon Agricultural Association. De Soysa was far ahead of his times in understanding the importance of the economic, social and moral progress in the process of nation building.
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