The history of Colombo's museum district is tied to several notable historical and cultural figures:
* **Sir William Henry Gregory:** British Governor of Ceylon who championed and oversaw the construction of the Colombo National Museum in 1877. * **Ananda Coomaraswamy:** A pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian and Sinhalese art, after whom the street running past the National Art Gallery is named. * **Geoffrey Bawa:** Sri Lanka's most famous architect, whose "tropical modernism" style is visible in several renovated heritage buildings and galleries in the immediate area.