Professor Sivasubramaniam Pathmanathan (born 20 March 1940) is 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 ...

historian, academic, author and current

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the University of Jaffna.

Early life and family

Pathmanathan was born on 20 March 1940 in Araly in northern

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 is the son of Sivasubramaniam, a teacher at Vaddukoddai Hindu College, and Sivapakkiyam. He was educated at Jaffna College. After school he joined the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya from where he received a BA special degree in history in 1963. Pathmanathan in married to Pathmaleela. They have three sons (Hariharan, Sriharan and Sivasankar) and two daughters (Sudharshni and Sivadharshni).

Career

Pathmanathan joined the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1963 as an assistant lecturer in history. He was promoted to lecturer (1969), senior lecturer (1975) and associate professor (1981). In 1969 he received a Ph.D in South Asian history 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 ...

. He was also a visiting lecturer of history/Hindu civilisation at the University of Ceylon, Colombo (1970–72) and visiting lecturer of history University of Sri Lanka Vidyalankara campus (1975–77). He joined the University of Jaffna in 1986 as professor of history, serving until 2004. He returned to the

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya (, ) is a Public research university, public university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka, University Grants Commission. It is the largest university in Sri Lanka, which was origin ...

as professor of history in 1995, serving until 2006. He was head of the Department of History at Peradeniya between 2001 and 2002. He was a visiting professor at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

's Institute of Indology and Tamil Studies (2003–04) and

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

(2004). He retired in May 2006. After retirement Pathmanathan became an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of history at University of Peradeniya. He was a visiting professor at Eastern University, Sri Lanka (2007–08) where he helped establish the Hindu Civilisation

discipline Discipline is the self-control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed, and the ability to keep working at something that is difficult. Disciplinarians believe that such self-control is of the utmost importance and enforce a ...

. In 2008 he served as a consultant in Hindu studies at the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. He later became

of the University of Jaffna. Pathmanathan has served in various positions including vice chairman of the University Grants Commission (1994–99) and a member of the National Education Commission (1991-2001). He was a consultant to the Ministry of Hindu Affairs between 2002 and 2003. Pathmanathan was awarded the Sri Lanka Sikhamani title in the

2017 Sri Lankan national honours In March 2017 President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena awarded national honours to 90 individuals for distinguished services. It was the first time in twelve years that awards were given out and there were 426 applicants. The awards ceremony w ...

Works

Pathmanathan is a prolific writer — he has written/edited several books and authored dozens of papers. * ''The Vanniyar'' (Tamil) (1970, Peradeniya) * ''The Kingdom of Jaffna, Part 1 (Circa A.D. 1250-1450)'' (1978, Arul M. Rajendran) * ''The Laws and Customs of the Sri Lankan Tamils'' (Tamil) (2001, Kumaran Press) * ''Hindu Culture in Sri Lanka, Volume 1: Temple Art & Architecture'' (editor) (Tamil) (2001, Department of Hindu Religious & Cultural Affairs, Sri Lanka) * ''Hindu Culture in Sri Lanka, Volume 2: Dances & Paintings'' (editor) (Tamil) (2002, Department of Hindu Religious & Cultural Affairs, Sri Lanka) * ''The Vanni Principalities in Sri Lanka'' (Tamil) (2003, Kumaran Press) * ''Tamil Literature and Historical Traditions in Sri Lanka'' (Tamil) (2004, Kumaran Press) * ''Hinduism in Sri Lanka'' (Tamil) (2004, Kumaran Press) * ''Tamil Inscriptions in Sri Lanka'' (Tamil) (2006, Department of Hindu Religious & Cultural Affairs, Sri Lanka)

References