Professor Chandra Richard de Silva is a

Sri Lanka 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, ...

n academic, historian and author. A lecturer of history at the

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

, de Silva has written books on Sri Lankan history.

Early life and family

Chandra Richard de Silva was born in Panadura, Sri Lanka (Ceylon). After his secondary education at St. Peter's College, Bambalapitiya, Chandra De Silva was educated at the

University of Ceylon 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 ...

from where he received a BA degree in history in 1962. He received a Ph.D degree in 1968 from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Career

De Silva started teaching at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1963. He was dean of the

Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya is the largest single faculty in the entire university system of Sri Lanka. Location Faculty of Arts is located approximately in the middle of the university's main campus. Faculty is about two kilome ...

from 1978 to 1981. He became a professor of history at the university in 1984. He was

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

of history and Asian studies at

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

between 1989 and 1991. He was chair of history at

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

between 1991 and 1998. He joined the

in 1998 as its chair of history. He became dean of the university's College of Arts and Letters in June 2003. He is currently vice

provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

for faculty and program development at the university. De Silva was awarded a Diplome de Langue Francaise from the Alliance Francaise de Paris in 1987.

Works

De Silva has written the following books. * ''The Portuguese in Ceylon'' 1617-1683 (1972, Cave) * ''Sri Lanka: A History'' (1997, Vikas) * ''Portuguese Encounters with Sri Lanka and the Maldives: Translated Texts from the Age of the Discoveries'' (2009, Ashgate)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Silva, Chandra Academic staff of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Academic staff of the University of Peradeniya Academic staff of the University of Sri Lanka (Peradeniya) Alumni of the University of Ceylon Alumni of the University of London Bowdoin College faculty Indiana State University faculty Living people Old Dominion University faculty Writers from Norfolk, Virginia 20th-century Sri Lankan historians Sinhalese people Sri Lankan historians 21st-century Sri Lankan historians Year of birth missing (living people) Historians of Sri Lanka