Santasilan Kadirgamar (; 11 April 1934 – 25 July 2015; known as Silan Kadirgamar) 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 ...

academic, historian and author.

Early life and family

Kadirgamar was born on 11 April 1934 in

Chavakachcheri Chavakachcheri ( Cāvakaccēri, Jāvakachchēri) is a town in the Jaffna peninsula of Jaffna District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It may have Javanese origins, as the name "Chaavaka+cheari" literally means Javanese settlement (there are als ...

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 was the son of Rev. J. W. A. Kadirgamar and Grace Nesammmah Hitchcock. He spent his early childhood in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, receiving primary education in

Seremban Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Somban'') is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban Municipal Council, Seremban City Council. ...

between 1941 and 1945. Returning to Ceylon, he was educated

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, Peradeniya to study history, graduating in 1959 with a BA (General) degree. He got involved in left wing politics whilst a student at Peradeniya and was a sympathiser of the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP ( literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist po ...

. Kadirgamar married Sakuntala. They had two sons (Ajayan and Ahilan). He was a first cousin of

Lakshman Kadirgamar Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar, President's Counsel, PC (; , 12 April 1932 – 12 August 2005) was a Sri Lankan lawyer. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2001 and again from April 2004 until his assassina ...

Career

Kadirgamar taught history, politics and international relations in the undergraduate department of Jaffna College between 1959 and 1969. He then taught in the Department of History at 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 ...

between 1970 and 1978. In 1974 he joined the

International Christian University is a non-denominational private university located in Mitaka, Tokyo. With the efforts of Prince Takamatsu, General Douglas MacArthur, and Bank of Japan, BOJ Governor Hisato Ichimada, ICU was established in 1949 as the first liberal arts coll ...

in Japan to study for a master's degree. In 1979 he became a senior lecturer of history at the

University of Jaffna The University of Jaffna (, ''Yāpanaya Wiśwawidyālaya''; ; abbreviated UoJ) is a public university in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Established in 1974 as the sixth campus of the University of Sri Lanka, it became an independent, autonomous university in 1 ...

, serving as head of the Department of History from 1982. As the security situation deteriorated in northern Sri Lanka,

human rights abuses Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

became widespread. Kadirgamar was one of the founders of the Jaffna branch of the Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality (MIRJE) in 1979. Following the

burning of Jaffna library The burning of the Jaffna Public Library (, ''Yāḻ potu nūlakam erippu''; Sinhala: යාපනය මහජන පුස්තකාලය ගිනිබත් කිරීම, ''Yāpanaya mahajana pustakālaya ginibat kirīma'') by an orga ...

in 1981 he helped found the Jaffna Citizens’ Committee. He was also one of the founders of the '' Saturday Review''. Kadirgamar returned to Japan in 1983 on a Japan Foundation Fellowship and lectured at several universities in the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

area:

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies , often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist National university, national research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international relations, international affairs and area studies. ...

Tokyo Woman's Christian University , often abbreviated to TWCU or , is an independent Protestant university in Tokyo, Japan. Founding TWCU was established by Nitobe Inazō (1862–1933), an author, diplomat and educator, who was appointed as the first president in 1918. The firs ...

, International Christian University,

Meiji Gakuin University is a private, Christian university with the main campus in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and a satellite campus in Yokohama, Kanagawa. It was established in 1863. The Rev. Dr. James Curtis Hepburn was one of its founders and served as the firs ...

, Sophia University Community College,

Keisen University is a private university, private women's college in Tama, Tokyo, Japan, established in 1988. The university is linked to the Keisen School for Young Women, founded in 1929 by Kawai Michi, Michi Kawai, the National Secretary of the World YWCA, You ...

, Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College,

Wako University is a private university in Japan. It is located in Machida, Tokyo. Wako University is part of a comprehensive educational institute called Wako-Gakuen (和光学園) (meaning Wako schools), that includes kindergarten, two elementary schools, j ...

and

International School of the Sacred Heart International School of the Sacred Heart (ISSH) is a Kindergarten (co-ed) – Grades 1–12 (all girls) school in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1908. As part of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools it is affiliated with schools and institutio ...

. He returned to Sri Lanka in 2000 and settled in

Dehiwela Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia (; ), population 245,974 (2012), is a large municipality in Sri Lanka, covering . It lies south of the Colombo Municipal Council area and is separated from it by the Dehiwala canal which forms the northern boundary of DMMC ...

. Kadirgamar contested the 2004 parliamentary election as one of the candidates for the New Left Front (NLF) in

Colombo District Colombo District ( ''kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya''; ''Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam'') 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 D ...

but the NLF failed to win any seats in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He contested the 2011 local government election as one of the candidates for the

Democratic People's Front The Western People's Front, currently named the Democratic People's Front (; ''Prajathanthravadi Janatha Peramunay''), is a political party in Sri Lanka active in the Western Province. WPF was originally a trade union, which then became a pol ...

(DPF) in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council but failed to get elected after coming fifth amongst the DPF candidates. He died on 25 July 2015 after a brief illness.

Works

Kadirgamar wrote several books on Sri Lankan Tamil history and politics. * ''The Jaffna Youth Congress'' (1980) * ''Handy Perinbanayagam: A Memorial Volume'' (1980, Handy Perinbanayagam Commemoration Society) * ''Ethnicity: Identity, Conflict and Crisis'', (1989, Arena Press, co-editor Kumar David) * ''The Left Tradition in Lankan Tamil Politics'' (2001, in ''Hector Abhayavardhana Felicitation Volume'') * ''Jaffna Youth Radicalism – The 1920s and 1930s'' (2009, in ''Pathways of Dissent: Tamil Nationalism in Sri Lanka'') * ''The Tamils of Lanka: Their Struggle for Justice and Equality with Dignity'' (2010) * ''Handy Perinbanayagam: A Memorial Volume'' (2012, Kumaran Book House) * ''The Jaffna Youth Congress'' (2013, Kumaran Book House) * ''Landmarks in the History of the Left: 1935-1980'' (2014, in ''Pathways of the Left in Sri Lanka'')

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kadirgamar, Silan 1934 births 2015 deaths Academic staff of the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Academic staff of the University of Jaffna Academic staff of the University of Sri Lanka (Colombo) Alumni of Jaffna College Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Faculty of Jaffna College People from Chavakachcheri People from British Ceylon 20th-century Sri Lankan historians Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan historians Tamil politicians 21st-century Sri Lankan historians Historians of Sri Lanka