List of prominent Sri Lanka Tamils
Encyclopedia
This is a List of Tamils
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

 of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

by their country of domicile or origin. All communities that speak Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 or spoke Tamil and originally came from Sri Lanka are included. Tamils of Sri Lanka today are a trans-national minority and are found across the globe
Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora
The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora refers to the global diaspora of the people of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan as well as Tamil diaspora....

.

Academics

  • A. Joseph Chandrakanthan - Founding head and first Senior Lecturer in the Department of Christian and Islamic Civilizations, University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    . Prominent Catholic scholar and theologian.
  • Dr Selladurai Gunasingam - Historian and anthropologist. Visiting Professor at Bowling Green State University
    Bowling Green State University
    Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...

    , Ohio, USA on a Fulbright academic award in 1980. History Lecturer at University of Peradeniya
    University of Peradeniya
    The University of Peradeniya is a world renowned state university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University Grants Commission...

    , Sri Lanka from 1968 to 1980. Has many publications to his credit mainly on Trincomalee, including his famous book on "Koneswaram". Now living in London, UK.
  • Dr. Rajan Hoole
    Rajan Hoole
    Michael Richard Ratnarajan Hoole known as Rajan Hoole is a Tamil Human Rights activist and a co founder, along with the late Ranjani Thiranagama, of University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna branch, while affiliated to the Department of Mathematics, University of Jaffna. He is the eldest son of...

     - Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    . Human rights activist and author of books. Member of University Teachers for Human Rights
    University Teachers for Human Rights
    For the figure in Norse mythology, see UrðrThe University Teachers for Human Rights or UTHR was formed in 1988 at the University of Jaffna, Jaffna in Sri Lanka as part of the national organization University Teachers for Human Rights. Its public activities as a constituent part of university life...

    .
  • Dr. Ratnajeevan Hoole
    Ratnajeevan Hoole
    Samuel Ratnajeevan Herbert Hoole . is a professor of Electrical Engineering. Previously he was posted at the Peradeniya University. He has spent many years in USA. Currently Professor Hoole teaches at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at their satellite campus in Hartford, CT.President Mahinda...

     - Professor of Electrical Engineering. Appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

     but never took up post due to threats.
  • Karthigesu Indrapala - Historian from University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    , now living in Australia.
  • K. Kailasapathi - First Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    .
  • T. Nadaraja
    T. Nadaraja
    Vidya Jyothi T. Nadaraja was a Sri Lankan academic. He was the Chancellor of the University of Jaffna, a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ceylon...

     - Chancellor of the University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    . Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ceylon
    University of Ceylon
    The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the University of Sri Lanka which existed from 1973 to 1978. In 1978 it was...

    .
  • Rev. Fr. Peter Alcantara Pillai, OMI (1905–1964) - He was the top scholar in Sri Lanka with 3 Ph D's.
  • S. Pathmanathan - Prominent historian best known for his expertise on the Kingdom of Jaffna.
  • S. Raveendranath
    Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath
    Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath is a Sri Lankan Tamil academic and the Vice-Chancellor of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka...

     - Vice-Chancellor of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka
    Eastern University of Sri Lanka
    The Eastern University,Sri Lanka is located in Vantarumoolai, Batticaloa in the eastern province of Sri Lanka.The university has its another campus in Trincomalee.-Academics:*Faculties*Faculty of Agriculture.*Faculty of Art & Culture....

    .
  • Markandan Rubavathanan - Linguist and writer, Lecturer at Uva Wellassa University
    Uva Wellassa University
    Uva Wellassa University is a university in Badulla, Sri Lanka.The Uva Wellassa University is the 14th National University to be established in Sri Lanka. It is the first all entrepreneurial university in Sri Lanka...

    , Badulla, Sri Lanka.
  • Rajaratnam Rukshan - Lecturer.
  • Prof. S. Sandrasegaram - Dean of Faculty of Education, University of Colombo
    University of Colombo
    The University of Colombo is a public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka...

    .
  • S. K. Sitrampalam - Prominent historian from University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

     and author of books.
  • R. Sivachandran - Dean faculty of Arts, Head of the Geography Department, Head, Dept of Sociology, University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    .
  • K. Sivathamby
    Karthigesu Sivathamby
    Karthigesu Sivathamby born in Karaveddy, Jaffna, Sri Lanka is an emeritus professor of University of Jaffna.Sivathamby has written and published more than 70 books and monographs and presented and published 200 papers at international seminars and journals on Sri Lankan Tamil history and...

     - Emeritus professor of University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    . Prominent Tamil scholar, sociologist and author of books.
  • Sachi Sri Kantha - inter-disciplinary biologist and author, now living in Japan.
  • X. Thaninayagam
    Xavier Thaninayagam
    Reverend Xavier S. Thani Nayagam was a Tamil scholar known for setting up the International Association for Tamil Research and organising the first World Tamil Conference...

     - Scholar, author and historian.
  • Dr. Rajini Thiranagama - Murdered human rights activist and author of books. Head of the Department of Anatomy, University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    . Member of University Teachers for Human Rights
    University Teachers for Human Rights
    For the figure in Norse mythology, see UrðrThe University Teachers for Human Rights or UTHR was formed in 1988 at the University of Jaffna, Jaffna in Sri Lanka as part of the national organization University Teachers for Human Rights. Its public activities as a constituent part of university life...

    .
  • Alakaiah Thurairajah - Former Dean of Engineering Faculty, University of Peradeniya
    University of Peradeniya
    The University of Peradeniya is a world renowned state university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University Grants Commission...

    . Former Vice Chancellor, University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    .
  • T. Varagunam
    T. Varagunam
    T. Varagunam, FRCP is a Sri Lankan academic, physician. He was the Chancellor of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka-External links:**...

     - Chancellor of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka
    Eastern University of Sri Lanka
    The Eastern University,Sri Lanka is located in Vantarumoolai, Batticaloa in the eastern province of Sri Lanka.The university has its another campus in Trincomalee.-Academics:*Faculties*Faculty of Agriculture.*Faculty of Art & Culture....

    .

Activists

  • Fr. Mary Bastian
    Mary Bastian
    Father Mary Bastian was a minority Tamil Human Rights activist and local Roman Catholic parish priest from Sri Lanka...

     - Roman Catholic parish priest and human rights activist. Allegedly murdered by the Sri Lankan Army
    Sri Lankan Army
    The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...

    .
  • Fr. Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown
    Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown
    Fr.Thiruchchelvam Nihal Jim Brown was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil, Roman Catholic parish priest who disappeared during the Sri Lankan civil war. He was active helping his parishioners during the bombing of his church in northern Sri Lanka...

     - Roman Catholic parish priest and activist. Missing since August 20, 2006. He is presumed dead.
  • Radhika Coommaraswamy – Human rights activist. Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
    Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
    An Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Secretary-General for a renewable term of four years....

     and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
  • Richard de Zoysa
    Richard de Zoysa
    Richard de Zoysa was a well-known Sri Lankan journalist, author, human rights activist and actor, who was abducted and murdered on February 18, 1990. His murder caused widespread outrage inside the country, and is widely believed to have been carried out by a death squad linked to elements within...

     - Journalist, author, human rights activist and actor, who was abducted and murdered.
  • Rev. Chandra Fernando
    Chandra Fernando
    Reverend Chandra Fernando was a priest from the town of Baticaloa in minority Tamil-dominated eastern province of Sri Lanka. He was known for his human rights activism. He was assassinated by unknown men on June 6, 1988.-Biography:...

     - Roman Catholic parish priest, human rights activist and Batticaloa Citizens Committee member. Murdered.
  • Dr. Rajan Hoole
    Rajan Hoole
    Michael Richard Ratnarajan Hoole known as Rajan Hoole is a Tamil Human Rights activist and a co founder, along with the late Ranjani Thiranagama, of University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna branch, while affiliated to the Department of Mathematics, University of Jaffna. He is the eldest son of...

     - Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    . Human rights activist and author of books. Member of University Teachers for Human Rights
    University Teachers for Human Rights
    For the figure in Norse mythology, see UrðrThe University Teachers for Human Rights or UTHR was formed in 1988 at the University of Jaffna, Jaffna in Sri Lanka as part of the national organization University Teachers for Human Rights. Its public activities as a constituent part of university life...

    .
  • Kethesh Loganathan
    Kethesh Loganathan
    Kethesh Loganathan was a Sri Lankan Tamil political activist, a Human Rights advocate and deputy secretary general of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process . He was among the fiercest critics of the ethnic separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and the LTTE are widely blamed...

     - Deputy Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat of the Government of Sri Lanka. Assassinated.
  • Paris Sabalingam - Publisher and activist.
  • Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu - Director of Center for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • Dr. Rajini Thiranagama - Murdered human rights activist and author of books. Head of the Department of Anatomy, University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

    . Member of University Teachers for Human Rights
    University Teachers for Human Rights
    For the figure in Norse mythology, see UrðrThe University Teachers for Human Rights or UTHR was formed in 1988 at the University of Jaffna, Jaffna in Sri Lanka as part of the national organization University Teachers for Human Rights. Its public activities as a constituent part of university life...

    .
  • Chelvy Thiyagarajah
    Chelvy Thiyagarajah
    Thiagarajah Selvanithy or from Sri Lanka a International PEN award winner in 1992, who was abducted and executed by the LTTE.- Biography :Selvi was born into a peasant family in Semamadu, a village about 80 miles south of Jaffna....

     - Feminist and International PEN award winner.

Actors & directors

  • Rukmani Devi
    Rukmani Devi
    Rukmani Devi was a Sri Lankan singer and actress, who was often acclaimed as "The Nightingale of Sri Lanka". She made it to the silver screen via the stage and had acted in close to 100 films, at the time of her death...

     - Popular film actress.
  • Chandran Rutnam
    Chandran Rutnam
    Chandran Rutnam is a well known film maker from Sri Lanka and was more than 38 years in Los Angeles. He is of mixed minority Tamil and majority Sinhalese ancestry...

     - Film producer / Director

Athletes & sports people

  • Russel Arnold
    Russel Arnold
    Russel Premakumaran "Rusty" Arnold is a former Sri Lankan cricketer of Tamil descent. Arnold made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1997 and his One day international debut against South Africa later in the year. Originally an opening batsmen, Arnold has since moved down the batting order...

     - Sri Lankan cricketer.
  • Muttiah Muralitharan
    Muttiah Muralitharan
    Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

     - Sri Lankan cricketer.
  • Angelo Mathews
    Angelo Mathews
    Angelo Davis Mathews is a Sri Lankan cricketer. Like Chaminda Vaas He had his formal education in St. Joseph's College, Colombo. Born in Colombo, he captained the Sri Lankan cricket team team in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka...

     - Sri Lankan cricketer
  • Vinothan John - Former Sri Lankan cricketer.
  • V. S. Kumar Anandan (Azhikumaran Anandan) - Multiple Guinness World Records holder in swimming.
  • Deepika Chanmugam - Elite swimmer. Bagged 7 gold medals at the 1991 South Asian Games.
  • Dr. N. Ethirveerasingam
    Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam
    Dr Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam represented Sri Lanka in the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games and three Asian Games.He won the first Asian Games gold medal for Sri Lanka in 1958. He taught in Universities in Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea, Nigeria and Sri Lanka...

     - High jumper. Olympic Games and Asian Games - 1950s. Winner of Ceylon's first Gold Medal in international track and field competition (high jump, 1958 Asian Games
    1958 Asian Games
    The 3rd Asian Games were held from May 24 to June 1, 1958 in Tokyo, Japan. A total number of 1,820 athletes, coming from 16 countries, competed in thirteen events at this Asiad. Debuting sports were field hockey, table tennis, tennis, and volleyball. Tokyo would go on to host the 1964 Summer...

    ).
  • P. V. Gopalakrishnan - National table tennis player and Secretary of Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka.
  • Muthiah Muralitharan - Sri Lankan cricketer. Leading Test wicket taker in the world.
  • Sanjeev Paramanathan - Davis Cup
    Davis Cup
    The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

     tennis player.
  • Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu - Former Sri Lankan cricket captain. The Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium was built in his honour.
  • Mahadevan Sathasivam
    Mahadevan Sathasivam
    Mahadevan Sathasivam , or Satha as he was known, was the Sri Lankan cricketer whom Garry Sobers called "the greatest batsman ever on earth," and Frank Worrell called him "the best batsman he had ever seen.". Sathasivam played cricket in the 1940s through the 1960s...

     - One of the best cricket batsmen produced by Ceylon.
  • Ravi Sathasivam - National and international spring board / platform diver - 1975 (SSC).
  • Umesh Walloopillai - Davis Cup
    Davis Cup
    The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

     tennis player.
  • Vinothan John - Former NCC and Sri Lankan test cricketer/opening fast medium bowler
  • Sridharan Jeganathan - Former NCC and Sri Lankan test cricketer/off spin bowler ( expired on May 14, 1996). First Sri Lankan test crcketer to die
  • Roy Luke Dias - Former Sri Lankan test cricketer/vice captain - A Tamil of Negombo Chetty
  • Sanjayan Thuraisingham - Colombo born Tamil Canadian cricketer
  • Ravi Puvendran - Colombo born Canadian cricketer
  • Jeya Kanaganayagam - Jaffna central, Ceylon Schools and Singapore cricketer
  • R.Naguleswaran - Former ceylon cricketer

Authors, writers, poets & artists

  • V. Akilesapillai
    V. Akilesapillai
    V. Akilesapillai was a Sri Lankan Tamil scholar, poet and writer.Akilesapillai was born on March 7, 1853 in the town of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. He was a trained teacher and also served as a Head Master of a School...

     - Author, scholar, poet and Hindu activist.
  • Ananda Coomaraswamy
    Ananda Coomaraswamy
    Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese philosopher and metaphysician, as well as a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, particularly art history and symbolism, and an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West...

     - Orientialist, author, philosopher and metaphysician.
  • Kavinjar Vellavoor Gopal - Researcher and poet.
  • Dominic Jeeva
    Dominic Jeeva
    Dominic Jeeva is a prominent minority Sri Lankan Tamil author and literary figure from Sri Lanka. He is also a member of the marginalized Dalit caste. Dominic Jeeva was for a period of time forgotten as a writer...

     - Author and social activist.
  • S. Kanapathipillai
    S. Kanapathipillai
    S. Kanapathipillai was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil literary figure and Hindu revivalist in the school of Arumuga Navalar. His father was Sinnathamby Pillai of Madduvil. Kanapathipillai was enrolled at the Navalar Kaaviya Paadasalai, under Kumaraswamy Pulavar, where he pursued higher studies in...

     - Scholar.
  • Muttukumara Kavirajar
    Muttukumara Kavirajar
    Muttukumara Kavirajar , the Ceylon / Sri Lankan Tamil poet, was one of the earliest Hindus to protest via published native literature the conversion attempts by the various Protestant missionaries within the Jaffna peninsula in Sri Lanka. He wrote the Jnanakkummi or Kummi Song on Wisdom and...

     - Poet and Hindu activist.
  • Kumaraswamy Pulavar
    Kumaraswamy Pulavar
    Chunnakam Kumaraswamy Pulavar was a well known Sri Lankan Tamil scholar and poet from Maylani village in Chunnakam township in Jaffna peninsula in the British held Ceylon now known as Sri Lanka. He lived from 1854 to 1922...

    - Scholar, poet & Hindu activist.
  • Ravi Sathasivam - English poet
  • D.Raja Segar-Segar (artist)-Painter and Sculptor.
  • C. W. Thamotharampillai
    C. W. Thamotharampillai
    C.W. Thamotharampillai also sometimes the initials are used as S.V , devoted his energies to the work of editing and publishing some of the oldest works of classical Tamil poetry and grammar.Pillai along with his contemporaries such as U. V...

     - Editor/publisher of classical Tamil poetry and grammar. The oldest extant written work in Tamil, Tolkapiyam - Porulathikaram, was discovered and published by him with a commentary.

Business people

  • Ken Balendra
    Ken Balendra
    Kandiah Balendra is a Sri Lankan corporate leader and executive, who holds and has held many corporate positions in Sri Lanka and the region. He is the former chairman of John Keells Holdings Ltd. which is the largest conglomerate in the island and of the oldest bank, Bank of Ceylon, and the...

     - Sri Lankan corporate leader and executive, who holds and has held many corporate positions in Sri Lanka and the region.
  • Subramaniam Mahadevan - One of the two founders of Sri Lankan conglomerate Capital Maharaja
    Capital Maharaja
    Capital Maharaja Limited is one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka. A multifaceted, multidimensional group whose activities span manufacturing, marketing, exports, communications, media, information technology, foods, packaging and more."....

    .
  • Sangarasivam Ponnudurai - A business magnet from Kokuvil in the 70s and 80s who was stabbed to death and burnt in his own car in Colombo during the 1983 riots.
  • Sinnathamby Rajandram - One of the two founders of Sri Lankan conglomerate Capital Maharaja
    Capital Maharaja
    Capital Maharaja Limited is one of the largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka. A multifaceted, multidimensional group whose activities span manufacturing, marketing, exports, communications, media, information technology, foods, packaging and more."....

    .
  • Chandran Rutnam
    Chandran Rutnam
    Chandran Rutnam is a well known film maker from Sri Lanka and was more than 38 years in Los Angeles. He is of mixed minority Tamil and majority Sinhalese ancestry...

     - Film maker and owner of Lionair
    Lionair
    Not to be confused with the Indonesian airline Lion AirLionair is an airline with its head office in the Asian Aviation Centre on the grounds of Ratmalana Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka, near Colombo. It is a privately owned charter operator...

    .
  • Ratna Sivaratnam
    Ratna Sivaratnam
    Ratna “Roti” Sivaratnam was a the former Chairman and Managing Director Aitken Spence, Sri Lanka.Educated that the prestigious Royal College Colombo, Sivaratnam was a Prefect, Captain of Rugby and Badminton, Regimental Sergeant Major of the Cadet Contingent...

     - Retired Chairman/CEO/Managing Director of Aitken Spence
    Aitken Spence
    Aitken Spence PLC is a blue chip conglomerate operating out of Colombo, Sri Lanka.-History:Aitken Spence was formed in 1868 as Clark Spence and Co. It was appointed as an agent for Lloyds of London in 1876. Aitken Spence was established as a limited liability company in 1948...

     - a leading blue chip conglomerate in Sri Lanka.

Civil servants

  • Sir Velupillai Coomaraswamy, CMG
    Order of St Michael and St George
    The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

    , CCS
    Ceylon Civil Service
    The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, originated as the elite civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule in 1833 and carried on after independence, until May 1, 1963 when it was abolished and the much larger Ceylon Administrative Service was...

     - Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence.
  • V. Parameswaran, SLAS - former Senior Deputy Rubber Controller, Rubber Control Department of Sri Lanka.
  • Nataraja Vamadeva - Former Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, Additional Secretary Ministry of Trade and Shipping, Chairman of Urban Development Authority, Chairman Fertilizer Corporation, Commissioner of Marketing Department.

Historical figures

  • Arumaipperumal
    Arumaipperumal
    Chieftain Arumaipperumal of Batticaloa, an eastern part of the Indian Ocean island known today as Sri Lanka, led a rebellion against the British colonial occupiers in 1803..-Colonial occupation:...

     - Batticaloa
    Batticaloa
    Batticaloa is a city in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka. It is on the east coast, south by south east of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island.-Etymology:...

     chieftain who led a rebellion against the British colonial occupiers in 1803.
  • Cankili I (Sankili Segarajasekaran) - a prominent king of the Jaffna Kingdom
    Jaffna Kingdom
    The Jaffna kingdom , also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, of modern northern Sri Lanka was a historic monarchy that came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula after the invasion of Magha, who is said to have been from Kalinga, in India...

    .
  • Cankili II
    Cankili II
    Cankili II was the self-proclaimed last king of the Jaffna kingdom and was a usurper who came to throne with a palace massacre of the royal princess and the regent Arasakesari in 1617. His regency was rejected by the Portuguese colonials in Colombo, Sri Lanka...

     - Last king of the Jaffna Kingdom
    Jaffna Kingdom
    The Jaffna kingdom , also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, of modern northern Sri Lanka was a historic monarchy that came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula after the invasion of Magha, who is said to have been from Kalinga, in India...

    .
  • Ellalan (Elara) - B.C.E king in Sri Lanka.
  • Eelattu Poothathevanar - Sangam era poet.
  • Pandara Vannian
    Pandara Vannian
    Pandara Vanniyan was a rebel Tamil chief from the Vanni region who was known as one of last native chiefs to challenge British rule in the Island nation of Sri Lanka.-Biography:...

     (Kulasegaram Vairamuthu Pandaravanniyan) - Vanni
    Vanni (Sri Lanka)
    The Vanni is the name given to the mainland area of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It covers the entirety of Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya Districts, and most of Kilinochchi District. It has an area of approximately 7,650 km2...

     chieftain who challenged British rule.

Journalists & broadcasters

  • S. P. Mylvaganam
    S. P. Mylvaganam
    S. P. Mylvaganam was the first Tamil Announcer of the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon. He was hugely popular not only in Ceylon but right across the Indian sub-continent...

     - First Tamil announcer of the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon
    Radio Ceylon
    Radio Ceylon is the oldest radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis in Ceylon by the Telegraph Department in 1923, just three years after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe.- Edward Harper :...

    .
  • Richard de Zoysa
    Richard de Zoysa
    Richard de Zoysa was a well-known Sri Lankan journalist, author, human rights activist and actor, who was abducted and murdered on February 18, 1990. His murder caused widespread outrage inside the country, and is widely believed to have been carried out by a death squad linked to elements within...

     - Journalist, author, human rights activist and actor, who was abducted and murdered during the JVP uprising 1989.
  • Sharthaar Jameel - Radio and TV broadcaster and political analyst.
  • A. Nadesan
    Aiyathurai Nadesan
    Aiyathurai Nadesan, a prominent and veteran minority Sri Lankan Tamil journalist was shot dead on May 31, 2004 on his way to work in eastern Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa by gunmen belonging to an armed paramilitary group widely believed to be so called Karuna Group.-Biography:Nadesan, the father...

     - Murdered Virakesari
    Virakesari
    Virakesari ta:வீரகேசரி is the name of one of the leading Tamil dailies in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is the oldest and the largest circulated Tamil Newspaper in Sri Lanka. Virakesari is owned by Express Newspapers Limited, a leading print and web media organization in Sri Lanka.- Foundation...

     newspaper journalist.
  • M. Nimalrajan
    Mylvaganam Nimalrajan
    Mylvaganam Nimalrajan, also spelt Mylvaganam Nimalarajan was a senior Jaffna based journalist who was shot dead by gunmen in the Sri Lanka Army's high security zone on October 19, 2000-Career in Journalism:...

     - Murdered journalist, BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     reporter.
  • K. S. Raja
    K. S. Raja
    K. S. Raja was a very popular Radio Ceylon radio announcer from Sri Lanka. He was popular with his audiences in both Sri Lanka and in Tamil Nadu in India...

     - Radio Ceylon
    Radio Ceylon
    Radio Ceylon is the oldest radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis in Ceylon by the Telegraph Department in 1923, just three years after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe.- Edward Harper :...

     announcer.
  • Claude Selveratnam
    Claude Selveratnam
    Claude Selveratnam was a popular radio announcer of Radio Ceylon - the oldest radio station in South Asia. Selveratnam read the English news bulletins of Radio Ceylon as well as presenting some of the popular radio programs of the day such as - 'Holiday Choice'.He joined a select band of Radio...

     - Radio Ceylon
    Radio Ceylon
    Radio Ceylon is the oldest radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis in Ceylon by the Telegraph Department in 1923, just three years after the inauguration of broadcasting in Europe.- Edward Harper :...

     announcer.
  • Taraki Sivaram
    Taraki Sivaram
    Taraki Sivaram or Dharmeratnam Sivaram was a popular Tamil journalist of Sri Lanka. He was kidnapped by four men in a white van on April 28, 2005, in front of the Bambalapitya police station. His body was found the next day in the district of Himbulala, near the Parliament of Sri Lanka...

     - A reputed journalist, military analyst editor of TamilNet
    Tamilnet
    TamilNet is a news website that provides news and feature articles on current affairs in Sri Lanka, specifically related to the erstwhile Sri Lankan Civil War...

     news website and author of books.
  • Subramaniam Sivanayagam - Prominent journalist, editor, editor of Saturday Review from Jaffna
    Jaffna
    Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...

     and an author of books.
  • J. S. Tissainayagam
    J. S. Tissainayagam
    Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam is a Sri Lankan journalist...

     - Journalist and first winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.

Lawyers & judges

  • V. Casipillai
    Viswanather Casipillai
    Viswanather Casipillai was a Crown Proctor and co-founder of the Jaffna Hindu College.-Biography:His grand nephew Cathiravelu Sittampalam was the first Cabinet Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the independent Sri Lanka....

     - Crown Proctor, President of the Jaffna Hindu Board, co-founder of Jaffna Hindu College
    Jaffna Hindu College
    Jaffna Hindu College is a boys public national school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1886 by a group of Hindu people who wanted an English language alternative to the Christian missionary schools. JHC is known throughout Sri Lanka as Hindu College.-History:In the late 19th century all the...

    , founder of Parvathy Maha Vidyalayam and other educational institutions.
  • Hon. Justice V. Manicavasagar - Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
    Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
    The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is the highest court of the nation of Sri Lanka. The Supreme Court is the highest and final judicial instance of record and is empowered to exercise its powers, subject to the provisions of the Constitution. The Court has ultimate appellate jurisdiction in...

    , Chancellor of the University of Jaffna
    University of Jaffna
    Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...

     and Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon
    Commercial Bank of Ceylon
    Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC is one of the leading commercial banks in Sri Lanka with 200 branches and more than 400 ATM's.The bank has a subsidiary in Bangladesh....

    .
  • S. Selliah
    Siva Selliah
    Justice Siva Selliah was a Sri Lankan Judge. He was a former Justice of the Court of Appeal, Judge of the High Court and a Magistrate. He was also a member of the Governing Council of the University of Colombo....

     - Justice of the Court of Appeal, Judge of the High Court and a Magistrate.
  • S. Sharvananda
    Suppiah Sharvananda
    Suppiah Sharvananda was a Chief Justice of Sri Lanka and the first Governor of the Western Province.-Early life:...

     - Chief Justice of Sri Lanka
    Chief Justice of Sri Lanka
    The Chief Justice of Sri Lanka is the highest post in the judicial system of Sri Lanka and heads the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President, chosen from candidates recommended by the Constitutional Council...

    , Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
    Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
    The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is the highest court of the nation of Sri Lanka. The Supreme Court is the highest and final judicial instance of record and is empowered to exercise its powers, subject to the provisions of the Constitution. The Court has ultimate appellate jurisdiction in...

     and Governor
    Provincial Governors of Sri Lanka
    The following is a list of incumbent governors of Sri Lanka. The Governor is the appointed ceremonial head of local government at the provincial level. He/she is appointed by the President and represents the President. The chief executive of the local government is the Chief Minister. There are a...

     of the Western Province
    Western Province, Sri Lanka
    The Western Province is the most densely populated province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the legislative capital Sri Jayawardenapura as well to Colombo, the nation's administrative and business center.-Districts:Basnahira is divided into 3 districts:...

    .

Militants & rebels

  • Charles Lucas Anthony
    Charles Lucas Anthony
    Charles Lucas Anthony, also known as Lt. Colonel Seelan, from Trincomalee District of Sri Lanka, was a close associate of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran...

     (Seelan) - Senior Tamil Tiger commander.
  • V. Baheerathakumar (Colonel Theepan) - Senior Tamil Tiger commander, de-facto military leader.
  • V. Balakumaran
    V. Balakumaran (Tamil activist)
    V. Balakumaran used to be one of the two top leaders of Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students .Balakumar used to work in a bank, this made it easy for groups such as LTTE and PLOTE to rob the bank as Balakumar was in favour of Tamil Eelam...

     - Former leader of Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
    Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
    The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students , also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, is a former Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Most of the EROS membership was absorbed into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1990. The rump, which continues to use the EROS name, has...

    , later joined the Tamil Tigers.
  • Anton Balasingham
    Anton Balasingham
    Anton Stanislaus Balasingham was the chief political strategist and chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam a militant organization...

     - Chief political strategist and chief negotiator for the Tamil Tigers.
  • S. Chandrakanthan
    Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
    Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan , is the current Chief Minister of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. He is also the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal , a political party in Sri Lanka...

     (Pillayan) - Tamil Tiger member, defected to the Sri Lankan Government. Chief Minister of the Eastern Province
    Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
    The Eastern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was...

    .
  • Douglas Devananda
    Douglas Devananda
    Kathiravelu Nithyananda Douglas Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda, is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he...

     - Former militant
    Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
    Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception amongst minority Sri Lankan Tamils that the state was preferring the majority Sinhalese...

     turned politician. Founder and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party
    Eelam People's Democratic Party
    The Eelam People's Democratic Party is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.-Background:...

     political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization. Government Minister and Member of Parliament.
  • B. Kandiah (Brigadier Balraj) - Senior Tamil Tiger commander.
  • S. Krishnakumar
    Sathasivam Krishnakumar
    Sathasivam Krishnakumar also known as Colonel Kittu was a well-known commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam .- Personal life :...

     (Colonel Kittu) - Senior Tamil Tiger commander.
  • G. Mahendraraja
    Gopalaswamy Mahendraraja
    Gopalaswamy Mahendraraja , also known as Mahattaya was a member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who was killed for leaking secrets to India's RAW- Personnel life :...

     (Mahattaya) - Deputy Leader of the Tamil Tigers and head of the People's Front of Liberation Tigers
    People's Front of Liberation Tigers
    The People's Front of Liberation Tigers is a political party in Sri Lanka, founded as the political wing of the LTTE in 1989. Mahattaya was the founding president of the PFLT. PFLT took part as an observer in the August 12, 1989 All Party Conference, and was prepared to take part in elections...

    .
  • Uma Maheswaran - Founder and leader of People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam
    People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam
    The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam is a former Tamil militant group. It is currently a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front.-Origins:...

    .
  • V. Muralitharan (Colonel Karuna Amman) - Senior Tamil Tiger commander, defected to the Sri Lankan Government. Government Minister and appointed Member of Parliament.
  • B. Nadesan
    Balasingham Nadesan
    Balasingham Nadesan was the LTTEs Political Chief from late 2007 until his death in 2009. He used to be the head of Police of the LTTE and was formerly based in Tamil Nadu.-Personal life:...

     - Tamil Tiger political leader.
  • A. Neminathan
    Ambalavanar Neminathan
    Ambalavanar Neminathan or Colonel Raju, had served as the special commander of the Tamil Tiger elite Leopard Commandos and had played a key role in developing the Tigers’ artillery division , died on 25 August 2002 due to cancer....

     (Colonel Raju) - Senior Tamil Tiger commander.
  • K. Padmanaba (Ranjan) - Founder and leader of Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
    Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
    The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front is a Sri Lankan political party and a former militant separatist group.-Militant separatists:The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K...

    .
  • R. Parthipan
    Rasaiah Parthipan
    Rasaiah Parthipan also known as Lt. Col. Thileepan was a LTTE political wing member who died during a hunger strike during the IPKF operation of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Personal life :...

     (Lt. Colonel Thileepan) - Tamil Tiger political wing member who died during a hunger strike.
  • S. Pathmanathan (KP) - Senior Tamil Tiger member. Now collaborating with the Sri Lankan Government.
  • V. Pernibarasa (Colonel Akbar) - Senior Tamil Tiger commander.
  • Velupillai Prabhakaran
    Velupillai Prabhakaran
    Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran was the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka...

     – Leader of the Tamil Tigers died in 2009 May at Nandikadal while trying to flee from the army.
  • Arul Pragasam
    Arul Pragasam
    Arul Pragasam is a Tamil activist and former revolutionary from Jaffna who had a part in forming the group Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students during the Tamil independence movements to secure an independent Tamil Eelam. Arulpragasam graduated in Engineering from the Peoples' Friendship...

     - Founder and leader of Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
    Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
    The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students , also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, is a former Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Most of the EROS membership was absorbed into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1990. The rump, which continues to use the EROS name, has...

    .
  • Thenmozhi Rajaratnam – Assassin who killed Rajiv Gandhi
    Rajiv Gandhi
    Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...

    .
  • Shankar Rajee - Founder and leader of Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
    Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
    The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students , also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, is a former Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Most of the EROS membership was absorbed into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1990. The rump, which continues to use the EROS name, has...

    .
  • E. Ratnasabapathy
    Eliyathamby Ratnasabapathy
    Eliyathamby Ratnasabapathy was one of the founder member of the Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students a Tamil militant group from Sri Lanka and a noted Marxist-Leninist political leader ....

     - Founder member of Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
    Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
    The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students , also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, is a former Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Most of the EROS membership was absorbed into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1990. The rump, which continues to use the EROS name, has...

    .
  • S. Ravishankar
    Shanmuganathan Ravishankar
    Shanmuganathan Ravishankar, also known as Colonel Charles , the Head of LTTE Military Intelligence wing, was killed on the 6th of January 2008 by Sri Lankan Army LRRP unit. His death was called a major setback for the Tamil Tigers....

     (Colonel Charles) - Tamil Tiger military intelligence wing leader.
  • Sri Sabaratnam - Leader of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
    Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
    The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization is an Eelam Tamil organisation campaigning for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka. The TELO was originally created as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a...

    .
  • T. Sivanesan (Colonel Soosai) - Tamil Tiger Sea Wing leader.
  • P. Sivaparan
    Perinpanayagam Sivaparan
    Perinpanayagam Sivaparan known by his nom de guerre Nediyawan is a prominent figure in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that some have claimed is the new head of the organization, after the arrest of Selvarasa Pathmanathan.-Personal life:...

     (Nediyawan) - Senior Tamil Tiger member.
  • S. Sivashankar (Pottu Amman) - Tamil Tigers Intelligence Wing leader, was number 2 in the organisation.
  • V. Sornalingam
    Vaithilingam Sornalingam
    Vaithilingam Sornalingam was founder of the air wing and marine division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and a relative of Velupillai Prabhakaran...

     (Colonel Shankar) - Founder of Sea Tigers
    Sea Tigers
    The Sea Tigers was the naval wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the Sri Lankan Civil War. It was founded in 1984. The Sea Tigers had a number of small but effective suicide bomber vessels. During its existence it had gained a reputation as a capable adversary for the Sri Lankan Navy...

     & Air Tigers
    Air Tigers
    The Air Tigers was the air-wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , who used it against the Government of Sri Lanka...

     wing of the Tamil Tigers.
  • S. P. Thamilselvan
    S. P. Thamilselvan
    Suppayya Paramu Thamilselvan, commonly known as S. P. Tamilselvan, , was the leader of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, an organisation fighting for a separate state for the ethnic Tamil minority in northern Sri Lanka from majority Sinhalese govt...

     - Tamil Tiger political leader.
  • N. Thangathurai
    Nadarajah Thangathurai
    Nadarajah Thangathurai , was one of the leaders of former Tamil militant organization TELO from Sri Lanka. He was inspired by Marxism. He was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment and was killed in 1983 Welikada prison massacre along with the other TELO leader Selvarajah Yogachandran.-See...

     - Co-founder and leader of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
    Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
    The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization is an Eelam Tamil organisation campaigning for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka. The TELO was originally created as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a...

    .
  • K. Ulaganathan
    Kandiah Ulaganathan
    Kandiah Ulaganathan, also known as Colonel Ramanan, was a senior commander of the Tamil Tigers, and was the number two in the Tamil Tiger military wing and its chief intelligence operative in the eastern region . He was from Palukamam, Batticalo District, Sri Lanka.-Early life:Ulganathan was born...

     (Colonel Ramanan) - Senior Tamil Tiger commander.
  • V. Vasanthan (Captain Miller) - first Black Tiger
    Black Tiger
    Black tiger may refer to:* Black tiger , a melanistic or pseudo-melanistic tiger* Black Tiger , a 1982 release by Y&T* Black Tiger , an arcade game developed by the Japanese company Capcom in 1987...

    .
  • S. Yogachandran
    Selvarajah Yogachandran
    Selvarajah Yogachandran , also known as Kuttimani was one of the leaders of former Tamil militant organization TELO from Sri Lanka. He started his career as a smuggler...

     (Kuttimani) - Co-founder and leader of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
    Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
    The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization is an Eelam Tamil organisation campaigning for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka. The TELO was originally created as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a...

    .

Military

  • Lieutenant Colonel
    Lieutenant colonel
    Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

     Wilmot Selvanayagam Abrahams, MC
    Military Cross
    The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....

    , MBE
    MBE
    MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

     - Commanding Officer, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Ceylon Artillery
  • Air Vice Marshal Ravi Arunthavanathan
    Ravi Arunthavanathan
    Air Vice Marshal Ravi Arunthavanathan, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, psc, SLAF was the former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Air Force and current Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence....

     - Former Deputy Chief of Staff, Sri Lanka Air Force and current Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence
  • Major General
    Major General
    Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

     Y. Balaretnarajah
    Y. Balaretnarajah
    Major General Y. Balaretnarajah, VSV, USP, ndc, SLAC is a Sri Lankan military leader, he was the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army; Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force; GOC, 1 Division; Brigade Commander of the Armoured Brigade, 21 Brigade, 24 Brigade and Commander, Security Forces,...

    , VSV
    Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya
    The Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya medal and bar are presented to Sri Lankan senior military officers of three services, given that their loyal service is of not less than 25 years and possess a perfectly flawless record of moral and military conduct, will be appropriate for the award...

    , USP
    Uttama Seva Padakkama
    The Uttama Seva Padakkama is presented to all ranks of the Regular Forces of the Sri Lankan military for valuable service and dedication to duty with the outstanding ability, merit and excellent conduct, given that they count not less than 15 years continuous and uninterrupted service and possess...

    , ndc
    NDC
    NDC or ndc may refer to:*IATA code for Nanded Airport, India* ndc, "name daemon control program" in some Unix-based BIND name-server environments* N.D.C., a 2002 single by Australian band Jebediah* National Defence Commission of North Korea...

    , SLAC
    Sri Lanka Armoured Corps
    The Sri Lanka Armoured Corps is currently a collection of six regular regiments and a volunteer regiment. It has an independent Armoured Brigade and provides the armour capability of the Sri Lankan Army, with vehicles such as the T-55, T-55AM2, and Type 69 main battle tanks, the BMP infantry...

     - Chief of Staff, Sri Lanka Army (June 10, 1992 - September 30, 1992).
  • Colonel
    Colonel
    Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

     T. Balendran
  • Rear Admiral
    Rear Admiral
    Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

     Rajan Kadiragamar
    Rajan Kadiragamar
    Rear Admiral Rajanathan "Rajan" Kadiragamar, MVO, ADC, RCyN was Sri Lankan Admiral. He was the second Ceylonese Captain of the Royal Ceylon Navy from 1960 to 1970 and as such the longest serving Commander of the Navy.-Early life:...

    , MVO, RCyN - former Captain of the Sri Lanka Navy
    Commander of the Navy (Sri Lanka)
    The Commander of the Navy is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Navy. The current Commander of the Navy is Vice Admiral D.W.S. Dissanayake...

  • Captain
    Captain (OF-2)
    The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...

     S. Kadiragamar - One of the first two Sri Lankan officers to attend Staff College, Camberley
    Staff College, Camberley
    Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army from 1802 to 1997, with periods of closure during major wars. In 1997 it was merged into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.-Origins:...

    .
  • Colonel
    Colonel
    Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

     R. Kumaranayagam, ED
    Ed
    -ed:* Ed , an altar or related place in some English translations of the Bible* ed , a UNIX text editor* Edition* Editor* Education, as in "tech ed" or "phys ed"...

    , SLLI - Deputy Commandant of the Ceylon Army Volunteer Force
    Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force
    The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force is the principal and Volunteer reserve force component of the Sri Lanka Army. It is a collective name for the reserve units and the Sri Lanka National Guard of the Sri Lankan Army. The SLAVF is made up of part-time Officers and soldiers paid at a similar rate,...

     and Served in the Ceylon Light Infantry during World War II
    World War II
    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

    .
  • Air Vice Marshal A. Kumaresan, RSP
    Rana Sura Padakkama
    The Rana Sura Padakkama is a medal presented to members of all ranks of the Military of Sri Lanka for individual and/or associated acts of heroism in facing the enemy and performed of their own accord. The decoration is presented by the President of Sri Lanka...

    , USP
    Uttama Seva Padakkama
    The Uttama Seva Padakkama is presented to all ranks of the Regular Forces of the Sri Lankan military for valuable service and dedication to duty with the outstanding ability, merit and excellent conduct, given that they count not less than 15 years continuous and uninterrupted service and possess...

    , psc
    Psc
    psc were the initials which appeared in the service lists denoting that a British Army officer had attended the Staff College, Camberley or, prior to 1956 and Pakistani independence, the Command and Staff College, Quetta...

    , SLAF - current Director Planning, Sri Lanka Air Force.
  • Major General
    Major General
    Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

     Anton Muttukumaru
    Anton Muttukumaru
    Major General Anton M. Muttukumaru, OBE, ED, ADC, CLI was the first Ceylonese Army officer to serve as Commander of the Ceylon Army , a post he held from 1955 to 1959. He also served as Ceylon's High Commissioner to Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ambassador to Egypt.-Early life and...

    , OBE, ED
    Efficiency Decoration
    The Efficiency Decoration is a defunct medal of Britain and the Commonwealth awarded for long service in the Territorial Army of the UK, the Indian Volunteer Forces and Colonial Auxiliary Forces....

    , ADC
    Aide-de-camp
    An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...

    , CLI
    CLI
    -Computing:* Command-line interface, sending commands to a computer by text typed into a command-line interpreter .* Call Level Interface, an SQL database management API...

     - first Ceylonese Commander of the Sri Lanka Army
    Commander of the Army (Sri Lanka)
    Commander of the Army is the title of the professional head of the Sri Lanka Army. The current Commander of the Army is Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya...

  • Air Commodore
    Air Commodore
    Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

     C. E. Puvimanasinghe - former Director Health Services.
  • Squadron Leader
    Squadron Leader
    Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...

     Mahendra Situnayake - Squadron Commander in the Royal Ceylon Air Force and in the Royal Air Force
  • Major General
    Major General
    Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

     T. Sivashanmugam, USP
    Uttama Seva Padakkama
    The Uttama Seva Padakkama is presented to all ranks of the Regular Forces of the Sri Lankan military for valuable service and dedication to duty with the outstanding ability, merit and excellent conduct, given that they count not less than 15 years continuous and uninterrupted service and possess...

  • Brigadier
    Brigadier
    Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

     R. T. Thambaiah
  • Major General
    Major General
    Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

     E. G. Thevanayagam
    E. G. Thevanayagam
    Major General E. George Thevanayagam, VSV is a Sri Lankan military leader, he was the Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force and later first Director of the National Cadet Corps....

    , VSV
    Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya
    The Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya medal and bar are presented to Sri Lankan senior military officers of three services, given that their loyal service is of not less than 25 years and possess a perfectly flawless record of moral and military conduct, will be appropriate for the award...

     - Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force
    Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force
    The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force is the principal and Volunteer reserve force component of the Sri Lanka Army. It is a collective name for the reserve units and the Sri Lanka National Guard of the Sri Lankan Army. The SLAVF is made up of part-time Officers and soldiers paid at a similar rate,...

     (1984–1986).
  • Major General
    Major General
    Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

     Chelliah Thurairaja
    Chelliah Thurairaja
    Major General Dr. Chelliah Thurairaja, USP, SLMC was a Sri Lanka Medical Doctor, Sri Lankan Army officer and sportsmen, who was former Director of Army Medical Services and Colonel Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps...

    , USP
    Uttama Seva Padakkama
    The Uttama Seva Padakkama is presented to all ranks of the Regular Forces of the Sri Lankan military for valuable service and dedication to duty with the outstanding ability, merit and excellent conduct, given that they count not less than 15 years continuous and uninterrupted service and possess...

    , SLMC
    Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps
    The Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the Sri Lanka Army which provides medical services to all army personnel and their families in war and in peace. It is made up of 4 regular units and one volunteer unit. Headquartered in Colombo, formally at army headquarters...

     - former Director Army Medical Services and Colonel Commandant Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps.

Musicians & singers

  • A. K. Karunakaran - Prominent classical music literate (Popular Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation - Karnatic music).
  • Krishan Maheson - Hip hop artist.
  • A. E. Manoharan - Popular Baila
    Baila
    Baila is a form of dance music popular on the island of Sri Lanka. The genre originated centuries ago among the 'kaffir' or Afro-Sinhalese communities and was later amalgamated with European instruments and eastern and western rhythms, especially rhythms found in Spain and northern European folk...

     singer/composer.
  • Kumar Navaratnam
    Kumar Navaratnam
    Kumar Navaratnam was a locally popular rock and roll singer in Colombo, Sri Lanka during the 1980s and 1990s.-Sri Lankan music:The dominant music genre in Sri Lanka is Sinhalese and Tamil pop songs based on bollywood film music and Baila music. Thus the emergence of western rock bands in the 1980s...

     - Pop singer.
  • Pararajasingam - Popular folk singer/composer.
  • Thirumurai Chemmani P. V. Raman - Carnatic Musician and Thevarm Othuvar, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation .
  • Poongothai Ratnavadivel - Up and coming Carnatic musician.
  • Siva Kaneswaran - One of the five members of British boy band The Wanted
    The Wanted
    The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band based in London, England. The band consists of Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes. Their debut single, "All Time Low", was released in July 2010 and reached number one in the United Kingdom for one week...


Police officers

  • T. E. Anandaraja - former Inspector General of Police
    Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka)
    The Inspector General of Police is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Police. He is the most senior police officer in Sri Lanka and oversees all police personnel throughout the country. The IGP reports to the minister of defense, when the Police Service is under the Ministry of Defence as it...

     (IGP)
  • T. I. Bastiampillai - Inspector of Police, CID
    CID
    -Criminal investigation:* Criminal Investigation Department, the branch of British police forces and many other Commonwealth police forces to which plain clothes detectives belong...

  • P. Mahendran - former Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Northern Range
  • Rudra Rajasingham - former Inspector General of Police
    Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka)
    The Inspector General of Police is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Police. He is the most senior police officer in Sri Lanka and oversees all police personnel throughout the country. The IGP reports to the minister of defense, when the Police Service is under the Ministry of Defence as it...

     (IGP)

T.Ganesanathan {Dupety Inspector-General of Police} srilanka colombo range

Politicians

  • Selvam Adaikalanathan - President of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
    Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
    The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization is an Eelam Tamil organisation campaigning for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka. The TELO was originally created as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a...

     and Member of Parliament.
  • A. Amirthalingam
    Appapillai Amirthalingam
    Appapillai Amirthalingam was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and Leader of the Opposition. Amirthalingam was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. -Early life:...

     - Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front
    Tamil United Liberation Front
    The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka which seeks independence for the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka.-Formation:...

    , Leader of the Opposition
    Leader of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
    The Leader of the Opposition in the Sri Lanka is the politician who leads main opposition. This is the leader of the largest party not within the government, usually the leader of the second largest party in the Parliament...

     and Member of Parliament.
  • V. Anandasangaree - Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front
    Tamil United Liberation Front
    The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka which seeks independence for the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka.-Formation:...

     and Member of Parliament.
  • Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam
    Ponnambalam Arunachalam
    Sir Ponnambalam Arunachchalam, CCS was a Tamil political leader in Ceylon and a member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council.-Early life:...

     CCS
    Ceylon Civil Service
    The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, originated as the elite civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule in 1833 and carried on after independence, until May 1, 1963 when it was abolished and the much larger Ceylon Administrative Service was...

     – Pre-independence politician and civil servant. Registrar General, Member of Executive Council of Ceylon
    Executive Council of Ceylon
    The Executive Council of Ceylon was the Executive Council created in Ceylon by the British colonial administration on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission along with the Legislative Council of Ceylon on March 13, 1833....

     and Member of Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    .
  • Balasingham of Atchuvely - Member of the State Council of Ceylon
    State Council of Ceylon
    The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon , established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time...

    .
  • A. Canagaratnam
    Arumugam Canagaratnam
    Arumugam Canagaratnam is the founder of the college Canagaratnam Maha Vidyalayam in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.-Biography:...

     - Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    , Chairman of the first Urban Council of Jaffna
    Jaffna
    Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...

     and founder of Canagaratnam Maha Vidyalayam (formerly Stanley College) in Jaffna.
  • S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
    S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
    Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was the political leader and father figure of the Sri Lankan Tamil community for more than two decades...

     – Political leader of the Sri Lankan Tamil people. Founder and leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
    Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
    Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was originally formed in 1949 as breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress...

     (Federal Party). Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front
    Tamil United Liberation Front
    The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka which seeks independence for the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka.-Formation:...

    . Member of Parliament.
  • A. Coomaraswamy
    Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy
    Gate Mudaliyar Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician during the British Raj, and served on the Legislative Council from 1833 to 1846. He was an Indian from Tamil Nadu who migrated to Jaffna in the early 19th century. He was the father of Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy and...

     – Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    .
  • Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy
    Muthu Coomaraswamy
    Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy, FRGS was a prominent colonial era legislator from Sri Lanka. He was the first native Asian and Sri Lankan to be knighted by Queen Victoria....

     – Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    . First Asian to be knighted, father of author Ananda Coomaraswamy
    Ananda Coomaraswamy
    Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese philosopher and metaphysician, as well as a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art, particularly art history and symbolism, and an early interpreter of Indian culture to the West...

  • Ponnambalam Coomaraswamy – Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    .
  • Douglas Devananda
    Douglas Devananda
    Kathiravelu Nithyananda Douglas Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda, is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he...

     - Militant
    Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
    Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception amongst minority Sri Lankan Tamils that the state was preferring the majority Sinhalese...

     turned politician. Founder and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party
    Eelam People's Democratic Party
    The Eelam People's Democratic Party is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.-Background:...

     paramilitary group. Government Minister and Member of Parliament.
  • K. W. Devanayagam - Minister of Justice and Minister of Home Affairs. Member of Parliament for Kalkudah 1965-1974.
  • Alfred Duraiappah
    Alfred Duraiappah
    Alfred Duraiappah was a former MP and mayor of Jaffna, Sri Lanka who was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers.-First political murder:A member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Alfred Duraiappah was a former MP and mayor of Jaffna...

     - Member of Parliament from 1960 to 1964 and Mayor of Jaffna
    Jaffna
    Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...

    .
  • Sir Waithialingam Duraiswamy - Speaker
    Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
    In Sri Lanka the Speaker of the Parliament is the individual who chairs the country's legislative body, the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The Speaker fulfills a number of important functions in relation to the operation the House, which is based upon the British Westminster Parliamentary system.The...

     of the State Council of Ceylon
    State Council of Ceylon
    The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon , established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time...

     1936-1947.
  • Mano Ganesan
    Mano Ganesan
    Mano Ganesan MP is a Sri Lankan politician and member of parliament and the current leader of the Democratic People's Front, a political party in Sri Lanka, President of Democratic Workers Congress, a trade union and Convener of the Civil Monitoring Commission, a human rights monitoring peoples...

     - Leader of the Democratic People's Front political party. Member of Parliament. Member of Western Provincial Council.
  • Lakshman Kadirgamar
    Lakshman Kadirgamar
    Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar PC was a Sri Lankan diplomat, politician and a lawyer. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2001 and again from April 2004 until his assassination in August 2005...

     – Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka). Nominated Member of Parliament.
  • N. Kumaraguruparan
    Nalliah Kumaraguruparan
    Nalliah Kumaraguruparan is a Sri Lankan politician, ex.member of Colombo Municipal Council, currently an elected member of the Western Provincial Council of Sri Lanka & the current Deputy Leader & General Secretary of the Western People's Front, a political party in Sri Lanka, Former General...

     - General Secretary of Democratic People's Front political party. General Secretary & Senior Vice President of All Ceylon Tamil Congress
    All Ceylon Tamil Congress
    All Ceylon Tamil Congress , is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.-History:The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament...

    . Member of the Colombo Municipal Council
    Colombo Municipal Council
    The Colombo Municipal Council is the local council for Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. The council was formed in 1865 and first met in 1866. The municipal council is the oldest and the largest local government authority in Sri Lanka and, as of 2001, covers a resident...

    . Member of Western Provincial Council.
  • Sir Arunachalam Mahadeva
    Arunachalam Mahadeva
    Sir Arunachalam Mahadeva, KCMG was a Sri Lankan, prominent colonial era legislator and diplomat. He was Minister of Home Affaires of the State Council and Ceylon's High Commissioner to India....

     - Minister Home Affairs. Member of the State Council of Ceylon
    State Council of Ceylon
    The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon , established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time...

    . Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    .
  • S. Nadesan
    Subaiya Nadesan
    Subaiya Nadesapillai also known as S. Nadesan was the son-in-law of Ponnambalam Ramanathan and a Tamil senator from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was a United National Party candidate and defeated Samuel Chelvanayakam in the 1952 Jaffna elections, after losing to him in the 1947 elections from...

     - Member of the State Council of Ceylon
    State Council of Ceylon
    The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon , established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time...

     Member of Parliament and Senator.
  • Joseph Pararajasingham
    Joseph Pararajasingham
    Joseph Pararajasingham was a Sri Lankan Member of Parliament and a poet who was known for his pro-Tamil Tiger views and advocacy of human rights...

     - Member of Parliament.
  • C. Ponnambalam - First Mayor of Jaffna
    Jaffna
    Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...

    .
  • G. G. Ponnambalam
    G. G. Ponnambalam
    Ganapathipillai Gangaser Ponnambalam , known as G.G. Ponnambalam, was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician in British Ceylon, and then after independence, in Ceylon. He founded the first Sri Lankan Tamil political party, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress. Ponnambalam stood for the principle of minority...

     – Political leader of the Sri Lankan Tamil people. Founder and leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress
    All Ceylon Tamil Congress
    All Ceylon Tamil Congress , is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.-History:The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament...

    . Government Minister and Member of Parliament.
  • Kumar Ponnambalam
    Kumar Ponnambalam
    Kumar Ponnambalam was a prominent defence lawyer and a controversial minority Tamil nationalist politician from Sri Lanka...

     - Nationalist politician and human rights activist. Leader of All Ceylon Tamil Congress
    All Ceylon Tamil Congress
    All Ceylon Tamil Congress , is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.-History:The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament...

    . Presidential candidate.
  • Suresh Premachandran - Leader of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
    Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
    The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front is a Sri Lankan political party and a former militant separatist group.-Militant separatists:The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K...

     and Member of Parliament.
  • Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan
    Ponnambalam Ramanathan
    Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, KCMG, KC was a Solicitor-General and Tamil political leader in Sri Lanka.-Early life:...

     – Pre-independence politician and political leader of the Sri Lankan Tamil people. Solicitor General of Ceylon. Member of Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    .
  • S. M. Rasamanickam - President of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
    Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
    Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was originally formed in 1949 as breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress...

     (Federal Party). Member of Parliament from 1956 to 1970.
  • N. Raviraj
    Nadarajah Raviraj
    Nadarajah Raviraj was a prominent Sri Lankan Tamil politician and human rights lawyer. Born in the Jaffna district in the North of Sri Lanka, he served as a Member of Parliament for the Tamil National Alliance, which is backed by the LTTE, until he was shot dead by gunmen in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on...

     - Member of Parliament.
  • James T. Rutnam
    James T. Rutnam
    James T. Rutnam was a Sri Lankan historian, educationalist, author, and politician.-External links:* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *...

     - Historian, educationalist, author and politician.
  • A. Sabapathy
    Arunachalam Sabapathy
    The Honourable Mr. Arunachalam Sabapathy – was born to Murugan Arunachalam a wealthy trader and S.Annapillai in Thalayali....

     - Member of Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    . Nne of the founders of Jaffna Hindu College
    Jaffna Hindu College
    Jaffna Hindu College is a boys public national school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1886 by a group of Hindu people who wanted an English language alternative to the Christian missionary schools. JHC is known throughout Sri Lanka as Hindu College.-History:In the late 19th century all the...

    . Editor of Hindu Organ. President of Jaffna Association.
  • T. M. Sabaratnam - Member of Legislative Council of Ceylon
    Legislative Council of Ceylon
    The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island...

    . President of the Vattrapalai Kannagi Amman Kovil Trust.
  • R. Sampanthan
    Rajavarothiam Sampanthan
    Rajavarothiam Sampanthan is a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and leader of the Tamil National Alliance and Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi.-Early life:...

     - Leader of Tamil National Alliance
    Tamil National Alliance
    The Tamil National Alliance is a powerful minority Sri Lankan Tamil political alliance in Sri Lanka. It was formed as an amalgamation of moderate Tamil parties as well as number of former rebel groups...

     political party. Member of Parliament.
  • Neysum Saravanamuttu - First woman member of the State Council of Ceylon
    State Council of Ceylon
    The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon , established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time...

    .
  • Sir (Dr.) Ratnasothy Saravanamuttu KBE
    Order of the British Empire
    The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

     - First Mayor of Colombo
    Mayor of Colombo
    The Mayor of Colombo is the Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The officers of the mayor are at the Colombo Town Hall. The mayors legal title is His worship the Mayor of...

    .
  • N. Shanmugathasan
    N. Shanmugathasan
    Nagalingam Shanmugathasan was a trade unionist and Maoist revolutionary leader in Sri Lanka. He was the founding General Secretary of the Ceylon Communist Party .- Life :...

     - General Secretary of the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)
    Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)
    Ceylon Communist Party is a political party in Sri Lanka. The party surged in 1964 following a split in the Ceylon Communist Party. Initially the party just called itself 'Ceylon Communist Party' as well, and was distinguished from the main CCP by denomintions like 'Ceylon Communist Party ', etc...

    .
  • C. Sittampalam - Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the first Cabinet of independent Ceylon. Member of Parliament.
  • S. Sivamaharajah
    Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah
    Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah was the managing director of Namathu Eelanadu, a Tamil-language newspaper, in Jaffna ,he was also a former Member of Parliament for the Tamil United Liberation Front, and a member of the pro LTTE Tamil National Alliance in the Sri Lankan Parliament...

     - Member of Parliament. Managing director of Namathu Eelanadu.
  • M. Sivasithamparam
    Murugesu Sivasithamparam
    Murugesu Sivasithamparam was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker.-Early life:Sivasithamparam was born 20 July 1923 in Karaveddy in northern British Ceylon. He was educated at Vigneswara College, Karaveddy and St. Joseph's College, Colombo. He later studied...

     - Deputy Speaker of the Parliament
    Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
    In Sri Lanka the Speaker of the Parliament is the individual who chairs the country's legislative body, the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The Speaker fulfills a number of important functions in relation to the operation the House, which is based upon the British Westminster Parliamentary system.The...

    .
  • Peri Sundaram - Member of the State Council of Ceylon
    State Council of Ceylon
    The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon , established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time...

    . Senator. Founder member of Ceylon Indian Congress.
  • C. Suntharalingam
    Chellappah Suntharalingam
    Chellappah Suntharalingam was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and government minister. Suntharalingam was one the first proponents of an independent Tamil state.-Early life:...

     - Government Minister and Member of Parliament.
  • Bala Tampoe
    Bala Tampoe
    Bala Tampoe is Sri Lankan lawyer and trade unionist. He was the General Secretary of the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers Union in Sri Lanka.-Early life and education:...

     - Veteran trade unionist. General Secretary of the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers Union
    Ceylon Mercantile Union
    The Ceylon Mercantile Union is one of the largest trade unions in the commercial sector in Sri Lanka.The Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers Union was originally built in 1928 as a white-collar union in the mercantile sector. Victor Corea and A.E...

    .
  • S. Thondaman
    Savumiamoorthy Thondaman
    Savumiamoorthy Thondaman also spelled Saumyamurthy Thondaman. is a Sri Lankan politician who represented the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka of which he was a member...

     - Leader of the Ceylon Workers' Congress
    Ceylon Workers' Congress
    The Ceylon Workers' Congress is a political party in Sri Lanka that has traditionally represented Tamils working in the plantation sector of the economy .- History :...

    . Government Minister and Member of Parliament.
  • Murugeysen Tiruchelvam
    Murugeysen Tiruchelvam
    Murugeysen Tiruchelvam was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of the Senate, government minister and a leading lawyer.-Early life:Tiruchelvam was born on 19 November 1907in Jaffna...

     - Government Minister and Senator.
  • Neelan Tiruchelvam – Member of Parliament.
  • Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan
    Kanthiah Vaithianathan
    Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan KBE CCS was a Sri Lankan Tamil civil servant, politician, Member of the Senate and government minister.-Career:Vaithianathan he had a long carrier in the Ceylon Civil Service...

     KBE
    Order of the British Empire
    The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

     CCS
    Ceylon Civil Service
    The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, originated as the elite civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule in 1833 and carried on after independence, until May 1, 1963 when it was abolished and the much larger Ceylon Administrative Service was...

     - Minister for Housing, Industry and Social Service, First Permanent Secretary
    Permanent Secretary
    The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...

     to the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence
    Ministry of External Affairs and Defence
    The Ministry of External Affairs and Defence was a ministry of the Government of Ceylon that conducted and managed all of Ceylon's relations with other countries and its military matters from 1947 to 1977.-History:...

     (1947–1952). Senator.
  • A. Vinayagamoorthy
    Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy
    Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and Member of Parliament. He is a former leader and president of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.-Political career:...

     - President of All Ceylon Tamil Congress
    All Ceylon Tamil Congress
    All Ceylon Tamil Congress , is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.-History:The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament...

     and Member of Parliament.
  • Sarojini Yogeswaran
    Sarojini Yogeswaran
    Sarojini Yogeswaran was a Sri Lankan politician. Yogeswaran was a member of the Tamil United Liberation Front. In 1997, she was elected mayor of Jaffna, the first elected mayor in 14 years....

     - Mayor of Jaffna
    Jaffna
    Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...

    .
  • V. Yogeswaran - Co-leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front
    Tamil United Liberation Front
    The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka which seeks independence for the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka.-Formation:...

     and Member of Parliament.

Religious figures

  • Sivath Thamizh Chelvi Thangamma Appakuddy - Hindu preacher and reformer
  • Arumuka Navalar
    Arumuka Navalar
    Arumuka Navalar was one the early revivalists of native Hindu Tamil traditions in Sri Lanka and India. He and others like him were responsible for reviving and reforming native traditions that had come under a long period of dormancy and decline during the previous 400 years of colonial rule by...

     - Hindu reformer and author of books from Jaffna.
  • Remo Samuel - Hindu preacher and Tamil comedian.
  • Swami Vipulananda
    Swami Vipulananda
    Swami Vipulanada , also known as Vipulananda Adigal, was a Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu social reformer, literary critic, author, poet, teacher and ascetic from the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. Vipulanada was an early pioneer associated with the Indian-based Ramakrishna Mission in Sri Lanka...

     - Hindu reformer and author of books.
  • Yogaswami
    Yogaswami
    Jnanaguru Siva Yogaswami of Jaffna was Sri Lanka's most renowned 20th-century spiritual master, a Śivajnani and a natha siddhar revered by both Hindus and Buddhists...

     - Hindu ascetic from Jaffna.

Academics

  • Dr S. Jegasothy - VIT
  • Dr Kandarajah - University of Western Sydney
    University of Western Sydney
    The University of Western Sydney, also known as UWS, is a multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

  • Dr S. Mahendrarajah - Australian National University
    Australian National University
    The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

  • Dr Rajeswaran
  • Dr Ravindrarajah
  • Dr Minalini Lakshman (at the Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital,Torornto,Canada)

Activists

  • Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer
    Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer
    Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, AM , known as C.J. Eliezer, was a Sri Lanka-born Australian academic of Sri Lankan Tamil origin who held positions in mathematics faculties in universities in Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, and Melbourne, Australia.After his undergraduate education in Sri Lanka, he studied...

     - Professor of Mathematics in University of Ceylon
    University of Ceylon
    The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the University of Sri Lanka which existed from 1973 to 1978. In 1978 it was...

    , University of Malaya
    University of Malaya
    The University of Malaya is located on a campus near the centre of Kuala Lumpur, and is the oldest university in Malaysia. It was founded in 1905 as a public-funded tertiary institution...

     and Latrobe University in Australia. Recipient of Order of Australia
    Order of Australia
    The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

    .

Business people

  • Maha Sinnathamby
    Maha Sinnathamby
    Maha Sinnathamby is a Malaysian Australian businessman and property developer of Tamil ancestry. He lived in a rubber estate Rantau before moving to Australia and becoming an entrepreneur with a vision to build an entire city....

     - Renowned property developer and is the man behind Australia's largest real estate project. Frequently listed in BRW's annual list of the 200 richest Australians.

Academics

  • Dr. Rudhramoorthy Cheran - University of Windsor
    University of Windsor
    The University of Windsor is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students...

    .
  • Elagu V. Elaguppillai
    Elagu V. Elaguppillai
    Dr. Elagu V. Elaguppillai is a prominent Canadian of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, a businessman, nuclear scientist, university professor, medical researcher, municipal politician and a community services volunteer for over 35 years....

     - Academic, researcher, entrepreneur and politician.
  • Chelva Kanaganayakam - Director, Centre for South Asian Studies, Professor, Department of English, University of Toronto
    University of Toronto
    The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

    .
  • Dr. T. Kirubarajan - Professor and Canada Research Chair in Information Fusion, Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, McMaster University
    McMaster University
    McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...

    .
  • Arvind Magesan - Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Calgary
    University of Calgary
    The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...

    .
  • Sri Ranjan Ramanathan - Professor, Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba
    University of Manitoba
    The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

    .
  • Indira Samarasekera
    Indira Samarasekera
    Indira Vasanti Samarasekera, OC is the 12th and current President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Alberta. Succeeding Roderick Fraser on July 1, 2005, she was the first female president of any university in Alberta.-Biography:...

     (née Rutnam) - President of University of Alberta
    University of Alberta
    The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...

    .
  • Andrew Sarangan - Professor of Electro-Optics in Dayton, Ohio.
  • A. Thavaneswaran - Professor, Department of Statistics, University of Manitoba
    University of Manitoba
    The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

    .
  • Ravi Vaitheespara - Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Manitoba
    University of Manitoba
    The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

    .
  • Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson - Peace maker, politician and author of books on Sri Lanka. Son-in-law of S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
    S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
    Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was the political leader and father figure of the Sri Lankan Tamil community for more than two decades...

    .

Actors & directors

  • Rohan Fernando
    Rohan Fernando
    Rohan Fernando is a Canadian visual artist, painter and film maker based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.Fernando has directed two films for the National Film Board of Canada; Trudeau's Other Children and Cecil's Journey about his ambivalence towards his identity and his trip to Jaffna, Sri Lanka where...

     - Film maker born in Jaffna
    Jaffna
    Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...

    , Sri Lanka.
  • Lenin M. Sivam
    Lenin M. Sivam
    Lenin M. Sivam is a Canadian filmmaker. He was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka and moved to Toronto, Canada in 1991. Sivam is a self-taught storyteller. He writes and directs all of his movies. His diverse and controversial body of work is well respected in Canada...

     – Prominent film director who directed the critically acclaimed 1999 (film)
    1999 (film)
    - External links :***************...

    .

Athletes & sports people

  • Trevin Bastiampillai
    Trevin Bastiampillai
    Trevin Callistus Bastiampillai Trevin Callistus Bastiampillai Trevin Callistus Bastiampillai (born 26 October 1985 in Colombo, Sri Lanka is a Canadian cricket player. He is a right-handed batsman, and a right arm off-spin bowler. He has played two matches for Canada in the ICC Americas Championship...

     - Canadian cricketer.
  • Manoj David
    Manoj David
    Ramesh Randeer "Manoj" David is a Sri Lankan-born cricketer who has played three One Day Internationals and four Twenty20 Internationals for Canada.- External links :**...

     - Canadian cricketer.
  • Sonya Jayaseelan - Canadian tennis player.
  • Suresh Joachim
    Suresh Joachim
    Suresh Joachim Arulanantham is a Tamil Canadian film actor, producer, and multiple-Guinness World Record holder who has broken 60 world records set in several countries in attempts to benefit underprivileged children around the world.-World records:...

     - Canada's biggest Guinness World Record holder.
  • Arvind Kandappah
    Arvind Kandappah
    Arvindah Luxman Kandappah is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian cricketer. He is a right-handed middle order batsman.Kandappah started his international career well, scoring 69 not out against Kenya on his ODI debut, and 87 against the same opponent in his maiden first class match.-References:**...

     - Canadian cricketer.
  • Sanjayan Thuraisingam
    Sanjayan Thuraisingam
    Sanjayan Thuraisingam is a Tamil Canadian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast medium bowler....

     - Canadian cricketer.

Authors, writers, poets & artists

  • Rebecca Nada Rajah - Playwright of The Constant K Determines the Ultimate Fate of the Universe.
  • Shyam Selvadurai
    Shyam Selvadurai
    Shyam Selvadurai is a Sri Lankan Canadian novelist who wrote Funny Boy , which won the Books in Canada First Novel Award, and Cinnamon Gardens...

     - Author of Funny Boy and Cinnamon Gardens.
  • A. Sivanandan - Author of When Memory Dies, and editor of the journal Race and Class.

Business people

  • Sayan Navaratnam
    Sayan Navaratnam
    Sayan Navaratnam was the CEO of Creative Vistas Incorporated from 2004 to 2008, he remained as the Director and Chairman as of 2008. He has held senior positions at Bell Canada, Satellite Communications Incorporated and few other companies. He is a graduate of University of Toronto & of Sri Lankan...

     - Chairman of the Board, Creative Vistas Incorporated.
  • Roy Ratnavel - Senior Vice President, CI Investments, second largest independent investment fund company in Canada and a subsidiary of CI Financial.
  • Kajendran Selvachandiran - President and CEO , Brown Movementz Productionz Inc., one of Canada's largest media and concert production company.

Politicians

  • Logan Kanapathi - Markham town councillor, first Tamil Canadian elected to political office (2006).
  • Rathika Sitsabaiesan - a Canadian politician from Toronto
    Toronto
    Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

     is the New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge River and the first Tamil elected to the Canadian Parliament.

Academics

  • Jebaratnam J. Hensman - Registrar of the University of Madras
    University of Madras
    The University of Madras is a public research university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the three oldest universities in India...

    , India.
  • Kamala Satthianadhan - First woman in the South to get a B.A. degree (in 1898).
  • Raibahadur Williamspillai - Inspector of Schools, South India and Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Madras Educational Department.

Actors & directors

  • Chandrababu - Renowned actor, comedian & singer.
  • Poongkothai Chandrahasan
    Poongkothai Chandrahasan
    Poongkothai Chandrahasan is a film maker and activist. Poongkothai starred as the lead Actress in National Award-winning cinematographer P. C. Sriram's Vaanam Vasappadum India's first digital film to be shot in the HD format....

     - Actress and Harvard-trained filmmaker.
  • Balu Mahendra
    Balu Mahendra
    Balanathan "Balu" Mahendran is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, and cinematographer widely regarded as part of the first in a wave of directors and screenwriters from the Chennai film industry who revitalised Tamil cinema...

     – Prominent Kollywood
    Kollywood
    Kollywood is a word referring two different movie industries in India and Nepal, derived from the word Hollywood and their local movie centers.* Tamil cinema, the Tamil language film industry based on Kodambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,...

     film director.

Authors, writers, poets & artists

  • Kasi Anandan - Poet laureate
  • Rev. Father Xavier Thaninayagam Adigalar (1913–1980) - Founder member of the International Association for Tamil Research, from Jaffna
    Jaffna
    Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...

    , Sri Lanka
    Sri Lanka
    Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

    .
  • Rohini Hensman - author of the book, Playing Lions and Tigers.
  • V. Kanakasabhai
    V. Kanakasabhai
    Visvanatha Kanakasabhai Pillai was an Indian lawyer, historian and Dravidologist of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. He was the first person to attempt a chronology of ancient Tamil Nadu...

     - Lawyer, historian and Dravidologist of Sri Lankan Tamil descent.

Politician

  • Ariyangampillai - Associate of Mahatma Gandhi.
  • Mona (Mitter) Hensman - For 15 years principal of Ethiraj College, from 1937 to 1952 a nominated Member of the State Legislative Council and, after that, a member of the Rajya Sabha for three terms.
  • Dr. E. M. V. Naganathan
    E. M. V. Naganathan
    Dr. E. M. V. Naganathan was a Sri Lankan physician and politician, representing Nallur, Jaffna in the Parliament of Sri Lanka.-Early life and education:...

     - One of the founders of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
    Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
    Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was originally formed in 1949 as breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress...

     (Federal Party). Member of Parliament.

Others

  • Chandrahasan - Son of S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
    S. J. V. Chelvanayakam
    Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was the political leader and father figure of the Sri Lankan Tamil community for more than two decades...

    .
  • A. C. (Dorai) Hensman - One of the first non-English Deputy Superintendents of Police.
  • Dr. H. S. Hensman - The first Indian Superintendent of the Mental Health Hospital, Ayanavaram.
  • J. E. Hensman - Chief engineer of the Corporation of Madras.
  • Paul M. Jayarajan (Marcus Jayarajan Paul) - Appointed to the Madras cadre of the Indian Civil Service and took up his first posting in 1933 as Assistant Collector and Magistrate of Malabar District.
  • Yasmin Tambiah - Director at the Centre for Feminist Legal Research, New Delhi
    New Delhi
    New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

    , & author.

Academics

  • Prof Dr Jeyapalan Kasipillai - Professor & researcher, Business Law and Taxation.
  • Prof Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam
    Shan Ratnam
    Emeritus Professor Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam was the professor and head of the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the National University Hospital of Singapore specializing in human reproduction research. His work on contraception contributed to Singapore's success in population control...

     - Professor and researcher.
  • R. Thampipillay
    R. Thampipillay
    R. Thampipillay was born in Ceylon and joined the Victoria Institution , Kuala Lumpur as a pupil in 1895 on his arrival in Malaya....

     - Educationist.

Athletes & sports people

  • Punch Gunalan
    Punch Gunalan
    Datuk Punch Gunalan is a former male badminton star of Malaysia and one of the finest combination doubles and singles players that the country has ever produced....

     - Former national badminton player and IBF
    International Badminton Federation
    The Badminton World Federation is the international governing body for the sport of badminton. Founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member nations , the BWF has since expanded to 165 member nations around the world...

     Executive Deputy President.
  • Dato Dr. M. Jegathesan - Former Malaysian athlete, known as the 'Flying Doctor'.
  • Mahadevan Sathasivam
    Mahadevan Sathasivam
    Mahadevan Sathasivam , or Satha as he was known, was the Sri Lankan cricketer whom Garry Sobers called "the greatest batsman ever on earth," and Frank Worrell called him "the best batsman he had ever seen.". Sathasivam played cricket in the 1940s through the 1960s...

     - Former captain of the Malaysian cricket team.

Authors, writers, poets & artists

  • Manicasothy Saravanamuttu
    Manicasothy Saravanamuttu
    Manicasothy Saravanamuttu was a Sri Lankan journalist and diplomat in Malaya. He was the editor of The Straits Echo, Penang , and was credited with 'saving' Penang during Japanese invasion in 1941.-Early life:...

     - Editor of The Straits Echo in Malaya (1931-1941) credited with 'saving' Penang during Japanese invasion in 1941. He is the author of The Sara Saga.
  • Rani Manicka
    Rani Manicka
    Rani Manicka is a novelist, born and educated in Malaysia; she grew up in Terengganu and attended the University of Malaysia, where she received a business degree. After traveling, she settled in Surrey, England, frequently visiting her family, currently living in Petaling Jaya...

     - Writer.

Business people

  • Vijay Eswaran - Group MD and CEO of the QI Group of companies.
  • Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam
    G. Gnanalingam
    Tan Sri Datuk G. Gnanalingam is a prominent Malaysian businessman. He is the current executive chairman of Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd, one of Malaysia's leading port operators...

     - Executive chairman of Westport. Ranked 29th in the 2007 Forbes Asia List of the 40 Richest Malaysians.
  • Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan
    Ananda Krishnan
    Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan is a Malaysian businessman and philanthropist of Tamil origin. Nicknamed A-K, he is estimated to have a net worth of US$9.6 billion according to Forbes' latest annual list of wealthiest people, making him the second wealthiest in Southeast Asia behind Robert Kuok,...

     – Malaysia's richest man and 62nd Richest Man in the world according to the 2009 Forbes Billionaire List.
  • Bastianpillai Paul Nicholas
    Bastianpillai Paul Nicholas
    Bastianpillai Paul Nicholas or simply known as B.P. Nicholas was the founder of the Oriental Bank of Malaya and was the first Asian banker in the history of British colonial Malaya. He was also the only ethnic Ceylonese ever to acquire a banking license in Malaya.-Background:B.P...

     - the first non-British businessman who endeavoured to become one of the top bankers in the then Malaya.

Civil servants

  • S. Kulasingam - Retired Asst. Commissioner of Police.
  • Tan Sri Dr Ramon Navaratnam
    Ramon Navaratnam
    Tan Sri Dr Ramon Navaratnam is a prominent Malaysian economist. He is the former Transport Ministry Secretary-General and current Sunway Group corporate advisor. He is of Sri Lankan Tamil descent....

     - Prominent Malaysian economist.
  • Dr S. S. Thiruchelvam - First Asian surgeon in the world.

Politicians

  • Ian Karan - German Minister in 2010 and owner of worlds biggest container leasing company.
  • Tan Sri Devaki Krishnan
    Devaki Krishnan
    Tan Sri Dr Devaki Krishnan is a Malaysian politician. She became the first woman be elected to public office in Malaysia when she won a seat on the Municipal Council in Kuala Lumpur in 1952. She is currently a life member of the Malaysian Indian Congress .-Early life:Of Sri Lankan Tamil descent,...

     - Former politician
  • Sivarasa Rasiah
    Sivarasa Rasiah
    Sivarasa Rasiah ,or also known as R.Sivarasa is a prominent Malaysian politician, lawyer and human rights activist. He is co-founder of Suara Rakyat Malaysia or Suaram and vice-president of the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat...

     - Human rights lawyer and vice-president of the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat
    Parti Keadilan Rakyat
    The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...

     (People's Justice Party).
  • D. R. Seenivasagam
    D. R. Seenivasagam
    Darma Raja Seenivasagam was a prominent leader of the People's Progressive Party . He is of Ceylonese Tamil ancestry.He founded the PPP along with his brother, S.P. Seenivasagam. They were both prominent lawyers in Malaya prior to forming the party...

     - Founder of People's Progressive Party (Malaysia)
    People's Progressive Party (Malaysia)
    The People's Progressive Party is a political party in Malaysia.The party is one of the constituent members of the ruling National Front and is a multiracial party.-History:...

    .
  • Dato Dr N. K. S. Tharmaseelan - President, Malaysian Ceylonese Congress
    Malaysian Ceylonese Congress
    The Malaysian Ceylonese Congress is a political party in Malaysia. Formed in 1958, the MCC was established as a political party with the aim of giving support to the then Alliance party. MCC has continuously supported the Barisan National. MCC was the brainchild of the late Mr...

    .
  • E. E. C. Thuraisingham
    E. E. C. Thuraisingham
    Dato' Sir Ernest Emmanuel Clough Thuraisingham or E.E.C. Thuraisingham was the first local Member for Education in the Communities Liaison Committee formed to build communal fraternity in British-ruled Malaya, from 1951–1955...

     - Politician of pre-Independence Malaysia.
  • Datuk Dr S. Vijayaratnam
    Datuk Dr S Vijayaratnam
    Datuk Dr S Vijayaratnam was a Malaysian politician, and vice-president of the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia . His late Father was Seremban Barat Member of Parliament, and his late uncle S.Rajaratnam was Foreign Minister in Singapore. He died accidentally after falling from his roof in Jalan Tunku...

     - Former Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia
    Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia
    The Malaysian People's Movement Party is a political party in Malaysia. The party was founded on March 24, 1968, and , it is part of the ruling National Front coalition....

     Vice-President.

Academics

  • Prof. Ganesharani Ravindran - Food Science, Massey University
    Massey University
    Massey University is one of New Zealand's largest universities with approximately 36,000 students, 20,000 of whom are extramural students.The University has campuses in Palmerston North , Wellington and Auckland . Massey offers most of its degrees extramurally within New Zealand and internationally...

    .
  • Prof. Velmurugu Ravindran - Animal Science, Massey University
    Massey University
    Massey University is one of New Zealand's largest universities with approximately 36,000 students, 20,000 of whom are extramural students.The University has campuses in Palmerston North , Wellington and Auckland . Massey offers most of its degrees extramurally within New Zealand and internationally...

    .

Academics

  • Prof Philip Jeyaretnam
    Philip Jeyaretnam
    Philip Antony Jeyaretnam is a lawyer from Singapore. He is a Senior Counsel in Singapore, former President of the Law Society of Singapore, and a member of the Singapore Public Service Commission. He is also well known as a fiction writer. He is the younger son of the late veteran Singaporean...

     – Professor.
  • Prof Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam
    Shan Ratnam
    Emeritus Professor Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam was the professor and head of the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the National University Hospital of Singapore specializing in human reproduction research. His work on contraception contributed to Singapore's success in population control...

     - Prominent Former Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the National University Hospital of Singapore.

Politicians

  • Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
    Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
    Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...

     – Perennial opposition politician of the Workers' Party of Singapore
    Workers' Party of Singapore
    The Workers' Party of Singapore is a centre-left opposition political party in Singapore. The party currently has six elected seats in Parliament, with the party's Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh serving as Members of...

    .
  • Sinnathamby Rajaratnam
    Sinnathamby Rajaratnam
    Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, better known as "S. Rajaratnam", , was a Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 1980–85, and a long-serving Minister and member of the Cabinet from 1959-88. He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of independent Singapore as it achieved self-government in 1959 and...

     – Politician and deputy prime minister as well as one of the founding fathers of Singapore.
  • Tharman Shanmugaratnam
    Tharman Shanmugaratnam
    Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party , he is currently the country's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and Minister for Manpower. He previously served as the Minister for Education from 2003 to 2008...

     - Politician and minister.

Academics

  • Shervanthi Homer-Vanniasinkam - Professor, Consultant Vascular Surgeon, University of Leeds
    University of Leeds
    The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

    .
  • S. Sabanathan - Prominent thoracic surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary
    Bradford Royal Infirmary
    Bradford Royal infirmary is a large teaching hospital in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and is operated by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS trust. The infirmary is affiliated with Leeds School of Medicine....

    .
  • Ganesh Sittampalam
    Ganesh Sittampalam
    Ganesh Sittampalam was the youngest person to pass an A-level in 1988 when he was nine years and four months old. However this feat has since been surpassed by a number of other children....

    - Guinness World Record Holder as the youngest person in the UK to pass an A-Level in 1988, having been aged only nine years and four months old at the time.

Activist

  • Prof. Dr. S. J. Emmanuel
    S. J. Emmanuel
    Reverend Father S. J. Emmanuel is a Sri Lankan Tamil Catholic priest, activist and president of the Global Tamil Forum, an umbrella organisation for Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora groups.-Early life:...

     - Priest, academic, and activist. President of the Global Tamil Forum
    Global Tamil Forum
    Global Tamil Forum is an International Tamil organization meant to further Tamil causes in Tamil areas of Sri Lanka GTF supports self-determination for Tamils and wants Justice for War crimes against Tamils. It is headed by S. J. Emmanuel. In UK it works with both Labour and Conservative Parties...

    . Vicar General of the Jaffna Diocese.

Athletes & sports people

  • Dimitri Mascarenhas
    Dimitri Mascarenhas
    Adrian Dimitri Mascarenhas is an English cricketer of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He currently plays county cricket for Hampshire County Cricket Club, in the Indian Premier League for the Kings XI Punjab and for the Otago Volts in New...

     - International Cricketer plays for England, born to Sri Lankan Bharatakula
    Bharatakula
    Bharathas also Bharatakula are a Sri Lankan caste of Paravar immigrants from Tamil Nadu in India.-Origins:In India they were traditional fishers' merchants and traders. Most are Roman Catholics although a significant minority practice Hinduism....

     Tamil parents in the UK, brought up in Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

     and UK.
  • Alfred Savarimuthu - Sri Lanka's National Karate Champion 1979.
  • Murugan Thiruchelvam
    Murugan Thiruchelvam
    Murugan Thirumurugan Thiruchelvam is an English chess player. He was England's youngest player ever to gain an international chess rating . Less than a week after his 10th birthday, he played against the then world champion Garry Kasparov in a simultaneous exhibition...

     - British child prodigy chess player.

Business people

  • Dr. Arjuna Sittampalam
    Arjuna Sittampalam
    Arjuna Sittampalam is a financier in the United Kingdom. He is recently appointed as Research Associate at the EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre....

     - investment banker and currently the Chairman of the investment company, Sage and Hermes, Ltd. in U.K.

  • Suresh Sivarajah - Global investment specialist in everything from gold and diamonds to debt/equity finance and commercial property. CEO of Esaren International, and creator of the non-profit org Mission Around the World. Educated at Wellington College, Berkshire.

Musicians & singers

  • Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (M.I.A.)
    M.I.A. (artist)
    Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...

    - British rapper/singer/songwriter/record producer/fashion designer.
  • Siva Kaneswaran (artist) - British-Irish singer/member of the music group The Wanted

Journalists & broadcasters

  • George Alagiah
    George Alagiah
    George Maxwell Alagiah OBE is a British newsreader, journalist and television news presenter.Since 3 December 2007, he has been the sole presenter of the BBC News at Six and has also been the main presenter of GMT on BBC World News since its launch on 1 February 2010...

     - BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     reporter and journalist.
  • James Coomarasamy
    James Coomarasamy
    James Coomarasamy is the BBC World Service Europe Correspondent. He was formerly a BBC correspondent in Warsaw, followed by Paris and Washington, D.C....

     - BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     reporter and journalist.
  • Darshini David - BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     reporter and journalist.
  • Tim Kash
    Tim Kash
    Tim Kash is a television presenter best known for formerly presenting Top of the Pops in the United Kingdom, and MTV News on MTV UK and Ireland. He appeared on the U.S. edition of MTV News, and as a guest presenter on E! Network's Daily 10...

     - MTV
    MTV
    MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

     and BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     reporter and journalist.

Academics

  • Rev. Dr. Rama Coomaraswamy - Prominent Cardiac Surgeon, Chief of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery at Stamford Hospital
    Stamford Hospital
    Stamford Hospital is a private, nonprofit, community and teaching hospital in Stamford, Connecticut, with 440 affiliated doctors.The hospital has 305 inpatient beds in medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, and medical and surgical critical care units.As of 2005, Stamford Hospital...

    , Connecticut and writer on Traditionalist Catholicism and Perennialist topics.
  • Valentine Daniel - Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University
    Columbia University
    Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

     and author of several books.
  • Neil DeVotta - Professor of Political Science at Hartwick College
    Hartwick College
    Hartwick College is a non-denominational, private, four-year liberal arts and sciences college located in Oneonta, New York, in the United States. The institution was founded as Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick, and is now known as Hartwick College...

     and author of several books on Sri Lanka.
  • George Fernandez
    George Fernandez
    George Fernandez is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. He coached in both the Continental Indoor Soccer League and NPSL and was the 1994 CISL Coach of the Year.-Youth:Born in San Francisco,...

     - Professor of Applied Statistics, Director of UNR
    University of Nevada, Reno
    The University of Nevada, Reno , is a teaching and research university established in 1874 and located in Reno, Nevada, USA...

     Center for Research Design and Analysis and the Author of Data Mining using SAS applications - CRC press.
  • Associate Professor Mahendran Mahadevan - Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
    University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
    The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is part of the University of Arkansas System, a state-run university in the U.S. state of Arkansas...

    , Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
  • Murugesu Sivapalan - Professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and winner of the John Dalton Medal by the European Geophysical Society for Distinguished Research in Hydrology .; Recipient of International Hydrology Prize 2010. and the Hydrological Sciences Award of the American Geophysical Union 2010.; and Winner of the Robert E. Horton Medal of the American Geophysical Union, 2011, the highest and most prestigious award for hydrology, worldwide .
  • Prof. Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah
    Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah
    Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah is a leading social anthropologist and Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University. He specializes in studies of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Tamils, as well as the anthropology of religion and politics.- Biography :Tambiah was born in Sri Lanka to...

     - Retired Harvard University
    Harvard University
    Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

     professor of Anthropology and author of several books.

Business people

  • Kavichandran Alexander (Kavi Alexander) - Owner US record label Water Lily Acoustics
    Water Lily Acoustics
    Water Lily Acoustics is an American record label based in Santa Barbara, California. It primarily releases recordings of Indian classical music and cross-cultural collaborations between musicians from around the world...

    /Engineer - 1993 Grammy Award for album by Ry Cooder
    Ry Cooder
    Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...

     A Meeting by the River
    A Meeting by the River
    A Meeting by the River is an album by Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, released in April 1993 through the record label Water Lily Acoustics. Recorded in September 1992, the improvised collaborative album features Cooder on slide guitar and Bhatt on the Mohan veena, a stringed instrument created by...

    .
  • Rajan Anandan
    Rajan Anandan
    Rajan Anandan is currently the Head of Google India. He was earlier the Managing Director of Microsoft's Sales Marketing and Services business in India. He took this up role in August 2008. Before this role, he used to be the Managing Director of Dell India. He led Dell India from 2006 to 2008...

     - Former Managing Director of Dell
    Dell
    Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...

    -India
    India
    India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

     & Managing Director of Microsoft
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

    -India
    India
    India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

     since 2008.
  • Sanjay Kumar
    Sanjay Kumar
    Sanjay Kumar Sanjay Kumar Sanjay Kumar (Sanjay Kumar (Sanjay Kumar ([[hindi) (born [[Dhanbad,India]]) was the [[Chairman]] and [[CEO]] of [[CA, Inc.|Computer Associates International]] (now CA Technologies), until April 2004.-Emigration:...

     – Former Chief Executive of Computer Associates.
  • Kumar Mahadeva
    Kumar Mahadeva
    Kumar Mahadeva was a Sri Lankan American founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Cognizant Technology Solutions. He resigned from Cognizant Technology Solutions in 2003. He has held senior positions at BBC, McKinsey, AT&T, and Dun & Bradstreet. He is of Sri Lankan Tamil descent.-References:...

     – Former Chief Executive of Cognizant Technology Solutions
    Cognizant Technology Solutions
    Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. is an American global provider of custom information technology, consulting and business process outsourcing services. Its headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States and is a member of NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500 and Fortune 500...

    .
  • Raj Rajaratnam
    Raj Rajaratnam
    Raj Rajaratnam is an American former hedge fund manager and founder of the Galleon Group, a New York-based hedge fund management firm. On October 16, 2009, he was arrested by the FBI on allegations of insider trading, which also caused the Galleon Group to close. He stood trial in U.S. v...

     – A hedge fund manager and the founder and Managing General Partner of The Galleon Group
    Galleon Group
    Galleon Group was one of the largest hedge fund management firms in the world, managing over $7 billion, before closing in October 2009. The firm was at the center of a 2009 insider trading scandal that resulted in investors pulling capital from the firm rapidly...

    . He is on the Forbes Richest Americans List.

Musicians & singers

  • Clarence Jey
    Clarence Jey
    Clarence Jey is an Australian record producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter of Sri Lankan origin now established in the United States...

     – Song-writer/music producer for Emmy winning US TV animation series Growing Up Creepie
    Growing Up Creepie
    Growing Up Creepie was an animated television series made in the USA by Mike Young Productions and produced by Discovery Kids. In other countries the series was simply titled Creepie.- Premise :...

     and Producer/Writer for Viral Hit song 'Friday' by Rebecca Black
    Rebecca Black
    Rebecca Renee Black is an American pop singer who gained extensive media attention with the 2011 single "Friday". Her mother paid $4,000 to have the single and an accompanying music video put out as a vanity release through the record label ARK Music Factory. The song was co-written and produced...

    .

Politicians

  • V. Rudrakumaran
    Visvanathan Rudrakumaran
    Visvanathan Rudrakumaran is the chairman of Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam which wants to create a separate homeland called Tamil Eelam. By profession he is a lawyer in the United States. He is currently a US citizen and lives in New York....

     - Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam.
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