Tipped to become "the next Lord Kelvin," this Oxford prodigy instead chose to teach chemistry to Ceylonese boys. For five extraordinary years, he transformed Trinity College Kandy—washing ulcers in the slums, founding the island's first Social Service Union, and inspiring a generation to serve the poor. His principal called him "like Christ."
Then came 1914. This pacifist enlisted. This healer deployed poison gas. This family man left his infant sons to die at age 31 on a French battlefield.
How does a Christ-like servant become a chemical warfare officer? This biographical sketch explores the troubling paradox at the heart of Campbell's legacy—and argues that his five years at Trinity shaped the school more profoundly than any other figure in its 150-year history.
A story about brilliance and service, contradiction and sacrifice, and a living legacy that still calls each generation to choose: will we tend the flame or let it die?
