Upali Tissa Vitharana (born 30 August 1934) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n politician, former Member of Parliament and former cabinet minister. He is the current leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a member of the

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance ( abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக ...

(UPFA), and is serving as Governor of North Central Province.

Early life and family

Vitharana was born 30 August 1934 in

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...

in central

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He was the son of Pieris Vitharana, a Public Works Department engineer, and N. P. Maggie Perera, sister of N. M. Perera. He was educated at

Trinity College, Kandy Trinity College, Kandy, is an independent private school for boys in Kandy Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1872 by British Anglican missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, modelled on Public School (United Kingdom), British Public school tradi ...

and

Ananda College ''Appamādo Amathapadan'' (Buddhist quote from the Apramada Vagga in the Dhammapada) , motto_translation = Heedfulness, Punctuality leads to Nirvana , location = P De S Kularatne Mawatha , city = Colom ...

, Colombo. He played cricket for both schools. After school he joined 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 Univer ...

's medical faculty in Colombo, graduating in 1959 with a MBBS degree. Vitharana captained the university's cricket team in 1957/58 and took part in the Sara Trophy Tournament.

Career

After university Vitharana worked as a medical officer (1959–67) and was registrar at Colombo General Hospital in 1963/64. His post graduate work earned him an MD degree in

clinical medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care prac ...

from the University of Ceylon in 1965. He then went to study in the UK, obtaining a Diploma in Bacteriology from the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public university, public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London that specialises in public h ...

in 1968 and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

virology Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, th ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

in 1971. Specialising in

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classific ...

and virology, Vitharana joined the Medical Research Institute (MRI) in Colombo in 1972, serving as its director from 1983 to 1994. He was head of the virology department at the MRI from 1972 to 1994. Vitharana was a consultant virologist at the Edinburgh City Hospital's Regional Virus Laboratory in the 1980s. He was deputy director of the Victoria Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

from 1991 to 1993.

Politics & Lanka Sama Samaja Party

Following retirement in 1994 Vitharana was a professor of microbiology at the

University of Sri Jayewardenepura ''Vijja Uppattam Setta'' , mottoeng = Among all that arise, knowledge is the greatest , established = , undergrad = 14,750 , postgrad = 3560 , administrative_staff = 3950 , cit ...

from 1995 to 2000 and an advisor to the Minister of Science and Technology from 1994 to 2001. Vitharana joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in 1974. On 20 January 2004 the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 ...

(JVP) formed the

(UPFA). The Communist Party of Sri Lanka CPSL and LSSP joined the UPFA in February 2004. Vitharana was appointed as a UPFA

National List The National List ( he, רשימה ממלכתית, ''Reshima Mamlakhtit''), sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is ...

MP in the Sri Lankan Parliament following the 2004 parliamentary election. He was appointed Minister of Science and Technology after the election. Vitharana was re-appointed as a UPFA National List MP following the 2010 parliamentary election. He lost his cabinet position after the election but shortly afterwards, in May 2010, he was appointed Minister of Technology and Research. He was promoted to Senior Minister of Scientific Affairs in November 2010. He lost his cabinet position following the 2015 presidential election. At the 2015 parliamentary election Vitharana was placed on the UPFA's list of National List candidates. However, after the election he was not appointed to the National List.

Governorship.

On December 4, 2019, Vitharana was appointed as Governor for the

North Central Province, Sri Lanka North Central Province ( si, උතුරු මැද පළාත ''Uturumæda Paḷāta'', ta, வட மத்திய மாகாணம் ''Wada Maththiya Mākāṇam'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administ ...

. He was sworn in before President

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan militar ...

Awards

Vitharana was awarded the Vidya Jyothi title in the 2017 Sri Lankan national honours.

Personal life

Vitharana is married to Kamini Meedeniya. They have a son, Ranil.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitharana, Tissa 1934 births Academics of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Alumni of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo) Alumni of the University of London Cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Living people Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon Sinhalese academics Sinhalese politicians Sinhalese physicians Sri Lankan Buddhists United People's Freedom Alliance politicians Vidya Jyothi