St. Anthony’s College, Kandy,(commonly known as St. Anthony's College;Sinhala:ශාන්ත අන්තෝනි විද්‍යාලය) founded in 1854, is one of the leading Roman Catholic School in Sri Lanka. It is considered to be a leading Public School in Sri Lanka. St Anthony's College has produced many distinguished alumni, including Presidents, Ministers and many parliamentarians in Sri Lanka. In November 1853, Fr. Felice Zoppi, a Franciscan priest, was sent to Kandy by Msgr. Joseph Maria Bravi, OSB. Fr. Zoppi promptly set about his task by opening a school for boys and one for girls at the house where he resided, in January 1854, with a Mr. Van Twest as Head Teacher of the Boys School. Fr. Zoppi subsequently wrote to Msgr. Bravi regarding the success of the schools; Msgr. Bravi replied on 12 March 1854, officially acknowledging the opening of both schools, at the present premises of St. Anthony's Cathedral. The number of students on roll at the inception was 62 boys and 28 girls. The girls' school was shifted to Katukelle in 1887, where a convent was opened for the Good Shepherd Nuns. The St Anthony's has a large amount of land given by the former minister, P B A Weerakoon. Mr.