Jeanne Hoban

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Jeanne Hoban : biography

03 August 1924 – 18 April 1997

In the mid-1950s, she joined Sri Lanka’s first co-operative housing scheme, the Gothatuwa Building Society, founded by Herbert Keuneman, Seneka Bibile, ‘Bonnie’ Fernando and other members of the radical intelligentsia. This led to the foundation of the Welikadawatte housing estate, which attained some fame as an island of intellectual creativity.

Jeanne formed a journalists’ branch of the Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU) at Lake House, much to the chagrin of the management which had strenuously upheld a ‘no unions’ policy. She was elected national Assistant Secretary of union, a post she held for several years. In 1960, she and several other trade-unionists were sacked from Lake House and were not reinstated. At this time she edited Visi-pas-vasarak, a magazine brought out by the LSSP on its 25th anniversary.

In the 1960s, she was involved in the Union’s publications and was active in many strikes of the period.

Teaching, journalism & broadcasting

In need of employment, Jeanne turned to teaching at the Terence de Zilva School in Kolonnawa. She subsequently joined the Ghana High Commission (at the time Kwame Nkrumah was President and had been advised by George Padmore) as a press officer, but returned to teaching at the Castle Street School (later Devi Balika Vidyalaya) in Borella, St Michael’s Polwatte and St Paul’s Milagiriya.

She went on to edit the left-wing Patriot newspaper. She was also foreign news editor of the ‘Nation’ newspaper. In 1967, her she was one of those proposed to contest the Agalawatte constituency on the LSSP ticket, but Dr Colvin R de Silva was selected by the party’s central committee in preference to her. She became active in the Kantha Kavaya, a circle of leftist women led by Tamara Kumari Ilangaratne. One of the proposals she made through this organisation, for a consumer council, was later adopted.

In 1968 she began broadcasting on the arts programme of Radio Ceylon. From 1970-72 she presented a radio programme, ‘Partners for progress’.

Education reform

In 1972 (as part of the ongoing educational reforms instituted by the United Front (Sri Lanka) government, she was appointed to a committee to look into the teaching of English in Sri Lanka Schools. She was seconded to the Curriculum Development Centre, where she edited its bulletin. There she was on the drafting committee of a new series of English Language textbooks. She was associated with a group of educationists led by Douglas Walatara, who wanted to teach English through the medium of the students’ mother tongue, the indirect method. The new English textbook, which replaced the GCE (Advanced Level) English textbook, and which she was partly responsible for, was controversial, avoiding Chaucer and Shakespeare, but including Bob Dylan (Blowin’ in the Wind), John Lennon (Imagine) and Isaac Asimov (Jokester) – her personal favourite, Arthur C. Clarke’s ("The Star"), was left out for fear of offending Roman Catholics.

She returned to England for a short time and was active in the Anti-Nazi League and the trades-union movement. In 1981 she returned to Sri Lanka once again.

She died in 1997 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She left two children, Janaki and Vinod.