Anagarika Dharmapala

Anagārika Dharmapāla (Pali: Anagārika, [ɐˈnɐɡaːɽɪkɐ]; Sinhala: Anagārika, lit., Sinhala: අනගාරික ධර්මපාල; 17 September 1864 – 29 April 1933) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist and a writer.

Anagarika Dharmapāla is noted because he was:

• the first global Buddhist missionary
• one of the founding contributors of non-violent Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
• a leading figure in the Sri Lankan independence movement against British rule
• a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India after it had been virtually extinct for several centuries
• the first Buddhist in modern times to preach the Dhamma in three continents: Asia, North America, and Europe.

Along with Henry Steel Olcott and Helena Blavatsky, the creators of the Theosophical Society, he was a major reformer and revivalist of Sinhala Buddhism and an important figure in its western transmission. He also inspired a mass movement of South Indian Dalits including Tamils to embrace Buddhism, half a century before B. R. Ambedkar. In his later life, he became a Buddhist monk with the name of Venerable Sri Devamitta Dharmapala.