Arambamoorthy Thedchana Moorthy (10 August 1928 – 1 April 2008) was a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

diplomat and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Early life and family

Moorthy was born on 10 August 1928 in

Batticaloa District Batticaloa District ( ; ) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (previously known as a Government A ...

in eastern

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He was educated at Sivananda Vidyalayam, Batticaloa and

Jaffna College __NOTOC__ Jaffna College is a private school in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1871 as a successor to the Batticotta Seminary which had been established by American missionaries. History In 1816 American missionaries founded the Am ...

. After school he joined the

University of Ceylon, Colombo The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) 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 Univ ...

, graduating in 1948 with a degree in economics. Moorthy married Suseela, daughter of P. Sriskandarajah, in 1959. They had two daughters (Uma and Ima) and a son (Sri Ayilavan).

Career

Moorthy joined the Ceylon Overseas Service in 1953 and his first diplomatic posting was in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. He became

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

of the Ceylonese embassy in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1957, meeting leaders such as

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

. He was first secretary at the High Commission of Ceylon, London between 1961 and 1963. During this time Moorthy and Suseela studied for the bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1965. Moorthy then served in various diplomatic positions: first secretary in West Germany (1964–66); chargé d'affaires in Thailand (1969–70); permanent representative to the

United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

; and chargé d'affaires in Iraq (1970). He returned to Sri Lanka in 1974 to co-ordinate the fifth Non-Aligned Summit which was to be held in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

in 1976. He was appointed Ambassador to Pakistan in 1978 (also

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

to Iran). After the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

Moorthy played an important role in

Sri Lankan government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital of Sri Jayawardenepura Kott ...

's attempts to free the US hostages in Iran. In 1981 Moorthy was appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Back in Sri Lanka violence against the country's Tamils escalated, culminating in the

Black July Black July (; ) was an anti- Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated, and was finally triggered by a deadly ambush on a Sri Lankan Army patrol by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 23 ...

riots of 1983. Sinhalese expatriates living in the UK started a campaign to have Moorthy replaced by a Buddhist Sinhalese. He received a letter, allegedly from a member of the Sinhala Association in UK, threatening his life. The Sri Lankan government ordered Moorthy to declare that his appointment was evidence that there was no serious discrimination against the Tamils. Moorthy refused make such a declaration and resigned in 1984. Moorthy and his family remained in the UK. He died on 1 April 2008 in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorthy, A. T. 1928 births 2008 deaths People from Eastern Province, Sri Lanka Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Alumni of Jaffna College High commissioners of Sri Lanka to Pakistan High commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Iran Members of Gray's Inn English people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent People from British Ceylon Tamil people Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers