Anton Sebastianpillai FRCP (23 January 1945 – 4 April 2020), was a British historian, author (writing as Anton Sebastian) and consultant

geriatrician Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros' ...

, of Sri Lankan

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

origin.

Biography

He had his primay and secondary education at St Sylvester's College, Kandy and trained at Peradeniya Medical School, in Sri Lanka, qualifying in 1967. He gave talks to the Foreign Correspondents' Club, New Delhi, India, and gave the 'Millennium Oration' of the Sri Lanka Medical Association of North America. He died on 4 April 2020, at

Kingston Hospital Kingston Hospital is an acute hospital in Kingston upon Thames, England. It is managed by the Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It has an Accident & Emergency Unit, a popular midwife-led Maternity unit, and an sexually transmitted infecti ...

, London, after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

while working there. He had been admitted to the hospital's

intensive care unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensiv ...

on 31 March and was aged 75. He was a

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

, with a collection of rare books on Sri Lanka and on

medical history The medical history, case history, or anamnesis (from Greek: ἀνά, ''aná'', "open", and μνήσις, ''mnesis'', "memory") of a patient is information gained by a physician by asking specific questions, either to the patient or to other peo ...

Works

As Anton Sebastian he wrote a number of reference works: * * * * His ''Dictionary of the History of Medicine'' won a

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

Medical Book Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastianpillai, Anton 1940s births 2020 deaths 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century Sri Lankan historians Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) Bibliophiles 20th-century British medical doctors 21st-century British medical doctors Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England British geriatricians Place of birth missing Sri Lankan emigrants to the United Kingdom Sri Lankan non-fiction writers Sri Lankan Tamil physicians Sri Lankan Tamil writers Year of birth missing Sri Lankan Tamil historians 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians