S. Pathmanathan
4th Chancellor of the
University of Jaffna
Preceded byM. Sivasuriya
Personal details
Born (1940-03-20) 20 March 1940 (age 83)
Araly, Ceylon
Alma materJaffna College
University of Ceylon
University of London
ProfessionAcademic

Professor Sivasubramaniam Pathmanathan (born 20 March 1940) is a Sri Lankan Tamil historian, academic, author and current chancellor of the University of Jaffna.[1]

Early life and family

Pathmanathan was born on 20 March 1940 in Araly in northern Ceylon.[2][3][4] He is the son of Sivasubramaniam, a teacher at Vaddukoddai Hindu College, and Sivapakkiyam.[2] He was educated at Jaffna College.[2] After school he joined the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya from where he received a BA special degree in history in 1963.[2][4]

Pathmanathan in married to Pathmaleela.[2] They have three sons (Hariharan, Sriharan and Sivasankar) and two daughters (Sudharshni and Sivadharshni).[2]

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).[2] In 1969 he received a Ph.D in South Asian history from the University of London.[2][4] 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).[2] He joined the University of Jaffna in 1986 as professor of history, serving until 2004.[2][3] He returned to the University of Peradeniya as professor of history in 1995, serving until 2006.[2][3] He was head of the Department of History at Peradeniya between 2001 and 2002.[3] He was a visiting professor at the University of Cologne's Institute of Indology and Tamil Studies (2003–04) and Uppsala University (2004).[3] He retired in May 2006.[3]

After retirement Pathmanathan became an emeritus professor of history at University of Peradeniya.[5] He was a visiting professor at Eastern University, Sri Lanka (2007–08) where he helped establish the Hindu Civilisation discipline.[3] In 2008 he served as a consultant in Hindu studies at the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka.[3] He later became chancellor of the University of Jaffna.[6][7]

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).[2][3] He was a consultant to the Ministry of Hindu Affairs between 2002 and 2003.[3] Pathmanathan was awarded the Sri Lanka Sikhamani title in the 2017 Sri Lankan national honours.[8][9]

Works

Pathmanathan is a prolific writer — he has written/edited several books and authored dozens of papers.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ "Chancellor". University of Jaffna. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kanagaratnam, V.; Rajagopal, S.; Pushparatnam, P.; et al., eds. (2004). பத்மம் (Professor S. Pathmanathan Felicitation Volume) 2004. Bavani Pathippakam.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k பேராசிரியர் விநாசித்தம்பி செல்வநாயகம் தமிழியல் ஆய்வு விருது: Professor S. Pathmanathan - A Profile. Professor V. Chelvanayakam Trust. 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Sivakumaran, K. S. (18 April 2012). "A scholar of great integrity". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  5. ^ "Rare exhibition to showcase Jaffna's little known facets". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 18 September 2011.
  6. ^ "National Trust Lecture: Getting to know Sri Lanka's kovils". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 27 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Kovils of Sri Lanka by Prof. S Pathmanathan". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 28 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 September 2014.
  8. ^ "PART I : SECTION (I) – GENERAL Government Notifications NATIONAL HONOURS" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 2010/38. 17 March 2017.
  9. ^ "National Honours after 12 years". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 19 March 2017.
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