Koch Memorial Clock Tower

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The Faculty of Medicine building and the Koch Memorial Clock Tower on Kynsey Road. Colombo Medical College UoC.jpg
The Faculty of Medicine building and the Koch Memorial Clock Tower on Kynsey Road.

Koch Memorial Clock Tower, is located on Kynsey Road, Colombo next to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo. It was built in 1881 in memory of Dr. E. L. Koch (1838–1877), the second principal of the Colombo Medical School. It stands directly in front of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka.

Colombo Commercial Capital in Western Province, Sri Lanka

Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 in the city proper. It is the financial centre of the island and a popular tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to the Greater Colombo area which includes Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia. Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is within the urban area of, and a suburb of, Colombo. It is also the administrative capital of the Western Province and the district capital of Colombo District. Colombo is a busy and vibrant place with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins. It was the legislative capital of Sri Lanka until 1982.

Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo

Established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, is the second oldest medical school in South Asia.

University of Colombo public research university in Sri Lanka

The University of Colombo is a public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. Specialised in the fields of natural, social, and applied sciences as well as mathematics, computer sciences, and law. It is ranked among the top 10 universities in South Asia.

Edwin Lawson Koch was born on 29 November 1838 in Jaffna, the son of John Godfried Koch, a local proctor and Angenita Dordthea Aldons. Koch originally qualified at the Bengal Medical College in Calcutta before obtaining his Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Aberdeen. In July 1862 he entered the Ceylon Medical Service and was a surgeon at the Colombo General Hospital (now known as the 'National Hospital'). Koch was one of the first lecturers at the Colombo Medical School when it opened in 1870 and succeeded Dr. James Loos as principal in 1875. On 20 December 1877 he died of sepsis from a wound he received whilst performing an autopsy. He is recorded to have been "a bold Surgeon, a successful Physician and an expert Obstetrician". Through the efforts of Dr. J. L. Vanderstraaten (one of the other lecturers at Colombo Medical School) Rs 3,000 was raised by public subscription for the construction of a clock tower, with Sir James Longden, the Governor at the time, on behalf of the government, donating the clock, which cost Rs. 5,000.

Jaffna City in Sri Lanka

Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most populous city. Jaffna is approximately six miles from Kandarodai which served as an emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical antiquity. Jaffna's suburb Nallur served as the capital of the four-century-long medieval Jaffna Kingdom.

Proctor, a variant of procurator, is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The word "proctor" is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an examination or dormitory.

Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, commonly referred to as Calcutta Medical College, formerly Medical College, Bengal, is a medical school and hospital in the city of Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, India. It was the first medical college established in India and the entire South Asia. It was established in 1835 by William Bentinck. The Native medical Institution was the first college for teaching medical sciences in the country which was setup in 1822. In course of time the College was shifted to its new location and rechristened as The Medical College. The college imparts the degree Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) as well as specialised ,M.Sc(Medical) ,Ph.D and post-doctoral degrees. Nursing and para-medical courses are also offered. The hospital became the first government hospital to conduct a heart transplant in West Bengal, when it carried out a heart transplant on 17 November 2018. The hospital had received the license to carry out heart transplants in 2017.

The plaque on the clock tower carries the inscription: "In memory of E. L. Koch, M.D. Principal Medical College Erected by Public Subscription and Civic Medical Officers 1881".

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