The following people spent time at the

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

as either teaching staff or students.

Heads of state and government

J.R. Jayawardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

- former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, wh ...

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 ...

- former

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

Ranil Wickramasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

- former

and

Prominent figures in the independence movement

* Dr

Charles Alwis Hewavitharana Charles Alwis Hewavitharana, FRCS, LRCP was a Ceylonese (Sinhalese) physician who played a significant role in Sri Lanka's Independence and Buddhist Revival movements. He was the brother of Anagarika Dharmapala. Early life He was born in Col ...

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

- leader in the independence movement

Legislators and political figures

Hector Abhayavardhana Hector Abhayavardhana (5 January 1919 – 22 September 2012) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist theoretician, a long-standing member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and a founder-member of the Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burm ...

- Trotskyist *Professor

Ranjith Bandara Rajapakshe Wasala Tennakoon Mudiyanselage Ranjith Bandara (born 4 November 1961) is a Sri Lankan economist, academic, politician and Member of Parliament. Bandara was born on 4 November 1961. He was educated at Sirimalwatte Rajakiya Vidyalaya. H ...

, Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka * A. Amirthalingam - former Opposition leader, Member of Parliament and Tamil separatist * Hon.

Tissa Attanayake Attanayake Mudiyanselage Kudabanda Tissa Attanayake is a Sri Lankan politician, who is a National List member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was first elected to parliament in 1989. Former general secretary of United National Party, Attanayak ...

- former Cabinet Minister; former Member of Parliament * Professor Sir

Nicholas Attygalle Sir Nicholas Attygalle (14 July 1894 – 27 March 1970) was a Ceylonese academic, surgeon and a Senator. He was the President of the Senate of Ceylon from 1953 to 1960 and the first Ceylonese Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, where h ...

- former President of the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Counci ...

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

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 ...

, Dean Faculty of Medicine & Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology * Hon. Ronnie De Mel, CCS - former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament * Hon.

William de Silva Peduru Hewage William de Silva (8 December 1908 – 30 July 1988) was a 20th-century Marxist/Trotskyist Sri Lankan politician.

- former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament *

Deshamanya Deshamanya ( si, දේශමාන්‍ය, translit=Dēshamāṉya; ta, தேசமான்ய, translit=Tēcamāṉya; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a ...

Neville Kanakeratne Deshamanya Neville T. D. Kanakaratna (1923 - 19 September 1999) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, diplomat and scholar, who was the former Governor of the Southern Province. He was the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States and High Commissioner to I ...

- former Governor of the Southern Province * Hon.

Anil Moonesinghe Anil Moonesinghe (15 February 1927 – 8 December 2002) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist revolutionary politician and trade unionist. He became a member of parliament, a Cabinet Minister of Transport in 1964, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 199 ...

- former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament *

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Somasundaram Nadesan Somasundaram Nadesan, QC ( ta, சோமசுந்தரம் நடேசன்; 11 February 1904 – 21 December 1986) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, civil rights activist and member of the Senate of Ceylon. Early life and fa ...

- former Senator * Hon. Professor

G. L. Peiris Gamini Lakshman Peiris ( Sinhala: ගාමීණි ලක්ෂ්මණ් පීරිස්, Tamil: காமினி லக்ஷ்மன் பீரிஸ்) (born 13 August 1946) is a Sri Lankan politician and academic. He was the ...

- former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament * Hon. M. Sivasithamparam - former Deputy Speaker of Parliament * Hon. Doctor

Tissa Vitharana Upali Tissa Vitharana (born 30 August 1934) is a Sri Lankan 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 (UPFA ...

- current Cabinet Minister of Science and Technology and Member of Parliament * Hon. Doctor

Nissanka Wijeyeratne Deshamanya Nissanka Parakrama Wijeyeratne ( si, නිශ්ශංක පරාක්‍රම විජයරත්න) (14 June 1924 – 7 January 2007), known as ''Nissanka Wijeyeratne'', was a Sri Lankan politician, civil servant, dipl ...

, CCS - former Cabinet Minister of Education, Higher Education and Justice; Member of Parliament; Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Russian Federation; former Permanent Secretary; Diyawadana Nilame of the

Temple of the Tooth The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Sri Dalada Maligawa, ( si, ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාව) is a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which ho ...

Clergy and religious figures

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Thomas Cooray Thomas Benjamin Cooray (Sinhala language: තෝමස් බෙන්ජමින් කුරේ), O.M.I. (28 December 1901 – 29 October 1988) was a Sri Lankan cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of Colombo ...

, OMI - former

Archbishop of Colombo The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo ( la, Archidioecesis Columbensis in Taprobane) is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, whose ecclesiastical province covers all Sri Lanka plus the Maldives (which are ...

; first Cardinal from Sri Lanka *Rt.Revd. Dr.

Lakshman Wickremasinghe Lakshman Wickremasinghe (25 March 1927 – 23 October 1983) was one of the youngest bishops in the Anglican Communion and a human rights activist. Early life and education Born on 25 March 1927, he was the third son of Cyril Wickremesinghe of t ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

; youngest bishop in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Civil servants

Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, CCS (18 March 1913 – 4 December 1980) was a Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant. He was High Commissioner to India and concurrently Ambassador to both Nepal and Afghanistan (1963–1967) and Permanent Secretar ...

, CCS - former

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

of the Ministry of Finance & Treasury, Ministry of Health (also listed in Diplomats) *

C.A. Coorey,

SLAS The Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පරිපාලන සේවය; śrī laṁkā paripālana sēvaya) is the key administrative service of the Government of Sri Lanka, with civi ...

- former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance & Treasury *

Gamani Corea Deshamanya Gamani Corea (4 November 1925 – 3 November 2013) was a Sri Lankan economist, civil servant and diplomat. He was also the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and Under-Secretary-General of the ...

- former

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the UNCTD (1974–1984); Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs; Senior Deputy Governor of the

Central Bank of Ceylon The Central Bank of Sri Lanka ( CBSL; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව, Sri Lanka Maha Bankuwa) is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA), it is a ...

Gamani Corea of Sri Lanka, Secretary-General UNCTD
* Tissa Devendra - former Chairman of Public Service Commission; Chairman of Salaries Commission; first President of the Colombo University Alumni Association *

Hemasiri Fernando Hemasiri Fernando (born 12 October 1949) is the former permanent secretary to the Ministry of Defence and chief of staff of the president, chairman Board of Investment of Sri Lanka. Early childhood Hemasiri was educated at Nalanda College, Co ...

- former Secretary to the Prime Minister *

Bernard Peiris Bernard Percival Peiris, OBE, JP (29 March 1908 – 18 January 1977) was a Sri Lankan lawyer. He was the former Cabinet Secretary and the Legal Draftsmen who drafted the ''Ceylon Order in Council'', the first constitution of independent Ceyl ...

, OBE, JP - former Cabinet Secretary * M. J. Perera, CCS - first Chairman of the Rupavahini Corporation; former Permanent Secretary of the Education and Cultural Affairs Ministry; Vice-Chancellor of

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya ( si, පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, பேராதனைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a Public research university, public university in Sri Lanka ...

* G.V.P. Samarasinghe, CCS - former Cabinet Secretary and

of Defence and Foreign Affairs * S.J. Walpita, CCS - former Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Industries & Fisheries;

, Peradeniya *

Bradman Weerakoon Deshamanya Robin Bradman Weerakoon, CCS (born 20 October 1930) is a Sri Lankan civil servant. As a senior bureaucrat of the Sri Lankan government, he served nine Sri Lankan heads of state in a career spanning half a century.David, Marianne (inter ...

, CCS - former Secretary to the Prime Minister

Diplomats

* T. D. S. A. Dissanayake - former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia and Egypt *

Yogendra Duraiswamy Yogendra Duraiswamy, SLOS was a Sri Lankan diplomat, who served in India, Myanmar, the United States (New York), Australia, Iraq, Italy, China and the Philippines. Early life and education He was born in 1923 in Jaffna to Sir Waithilingam Duraiswa ...

, SLOS - former Sri Lankan diplomat *

Vernon Mendis Deshamanya Dr Vernon Loraine Benjamin Mendis (5 December 1925 – 23 June 2010) was a prominent Sri Lankan diplomat, who served as the United Nations' Special Envoy to the Middle East. He is referred to as the ''Sri Lanka's Father of Diplomacy ...

, SLOS - former

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Special Envoy Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

to the Middle East, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Canada; Ambassador to USSR, Cuba and Secretary General of the

Non Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

Daya Perera Lt. Colonel Daya Perera, PC (died June 16, 2013) was a Sri Lankan diplomat and lawyer, who was the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to the United Nations in New York City. Education Educated at Royal College Colombo, Perer ...

, PC - former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada; Ambassador to the United Nations in New York *

Wickrema Weerasooria Wickrema Weerasooria was a Sri Lankan lawyer, civil servant, diplomat and an academic. He was the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation, former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand. He served as Sri ...

- former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation

Military

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sepala Attygalle General Deshamanya Don Sepala Attygalle, (14 October 1921 – 15 January 2001) was a Sri Lankan senior army officer, civil servant and diplomat. The longest serving Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1967–1977), he went on to serve as the Perm ...

, MVO, idc, psc,

SLAC SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S. Departm ...

- former Commander of the Sri Lankan Army (1967–1977) and

to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Anton Muttukumaru Major General Anton Muttukumaru, OBE, ED, ADC (6 July 1908 – 2001) was the first native Ceylonese to serve as the Commander of the Ceylon Army (now Sri Lankan Army), a post he held from 1955 to 1959. He also served as Ceylon's High Commi ...

- first Ceylonese Army officer to serve as Commander of the Ceylon Army *

Dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

Chelliah Thurairaja, USP, SLMC - former Director Army Medical Services and Colonel Commandant of the

Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps The Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (SLMC) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුද හමුදා වෛද්‍ය බලකාය ''Shri Lanka Yuddha Hamuda Vayidya Balakaya'') is a specialist corps in the Sri Lanka Army which speciali ...

Police

* Sydney de Zoysa - former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Range II; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Internal Security; a leader of the attempted military coup in 1962 *

C. C. Dissanayake Cyril Cyrus "Jungle" Dissanayake, MVO was a Sri Lankan senior police officer. He was serving as Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Range I, when he was implicated as one of the leaders of the attempted military coup of 1962. Education Diss ...

- former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) and a leader of the attempted military coup in 1962Coup of 1962: an inside story
* S.A. Dissanayake - former

Inspector General of Police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

(IGP) and Additional Permanent Secretary of the

Ministry of External Affairs and Defence Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

* N. K. Illangakoon - current Inspector General of Police (IGP)

Academics

Vice Chancellors

* Professor Savitri Goonesekere - former Vice Chancellor of the

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

* Professor Kshanika Hirimburegama - current Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo * Professor

Vidya Jyothi The Vidya Jyothi ( si, විද්‍යාජෝති; ta, வித்யா ஜோதி, translit=Vityā Jōti) is a Sri Lankan national honour awarded "''for outstanding scientific and technological achievements''". It is the highest natio ...

V. K. Samaranayake Vidya Jyothi V. K. Samaranayake, MBCS, MCS(SL), FNASSL, MIEEE ( Sinhala:වී.කේ.සමරනායක) (1939 – 6 June 2007) pioneered computing & IT development industry and usage in Sri Lanka and thus considered as the "Father of In ...

- former

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo and founder of

University of Colombo School of Computing The University of Colombo currently has seven faculties with 41 academic departments and two interdependent schools with five academic departments. All faculties and schools carries out courses of study and research in both graduate and undergradu ...

* Professor Stanley Wijesundera - former Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo

Professors and scholars

* Professor Hithanadura Janaka De Silva - Foundation Professor of Medicine, University of Kelaniya; Dean of Faculty of Medicine Kelaniya (Student Faculty of Medicine 1977-1982) * Professor

Nalin de Silva Thakurartha Devadithya Guardiyawasam Lindamulage Nalin Kumara de Silva ( Sinhala: නලින් ද සිල්වා; born 20 October 1944) is a Sri Lankan philosopher and a political analyst. He is the current Sri Lankan ambassador in Mya ...

- professor in the Department of Mathematics at the

University of Kelaniya Pannaya Parisujjhati , mottoeng = Self-purification is by insight , established = 1875 Vidyalankara Pirivena1959 Vidyalankara University , type = Public , endowment = , adminis ...

* Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri - historian and Head of the Department of History, University of Colombo * Professor

J B Disanayake - professor and former Head of the Department of Sinhala,

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

* Professor Devaka Fernando - Foundation Professor of Medicine, University of Sri Jayawardanapura; Visiting Professor of Endocrinology University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Sheffield; Honorary Professor Sheffield Hallam University (Student Faculty of Medicine 1976-1981 and Senior Lecturer in Medicine 1994-1996) * Dr. Brendon Gooneratne - Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Parasitology,

Peradeniya Peradeniya ( si, පේරාදෙණිය, translit=Pēradeniya; ta, பேராதனை, translit=Pērātaṉai) is a suburb of the city of Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a m ...

* Professor

Yasmine Gooneratne Yasmine Gooneratne (born 1935) is a Sri Lankan poet, short story writer, university professor and essayist. She is recognised in Sri Lanka, Australia and throughout Europe and the U.S.A., due to her substantial creative and critical publications ...

- poet, short story writer and essayist * Professor

Shan Ratnam Emeritus Professor Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam (4 July 1928 – 6 August 2001), also known as Shan Ratnam, was a Singaporean obstetrician and gynaecologist. He was professor and head of the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the N ...

- Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,

National University Hospital The National University Hospital (NUH) is a tertiary referral hospital and academic medical centre in Singapore, located in Kent Ridge. It is a 1,160-bed tertiary hospital serving more than 670,000 outpatients and 49,000 inpatients and serves ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

* Professor A. Suri Ratnapala - Professor of Law, T.C. Beirne School of Law,

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

* Professor

Ediriweera Sarachchandra Dr. Veditantirige Eustace Reginold de Silva (later became Veditantirige Ediriweera Ranjitha Sarachchandra) (3 June 1914 – 16 August 1996; Sinhala: මහාචාර්ය එදිරිවීර සරච්චන්ද්‍ර), popularly ...

- playwright, novelist and poet * Professor K. N. Seneviratne - Professor of Medicine; founder director of Sri Lanka's Postgraduate Institute of Medicine * Professor

Jayadeva Uyangoda Jayadeva Uyangoda is a political scientist and constitutional expert in Sri Lanka. Uyangoda Maha Radage Jamis as his name appeared in the birth certificate, Uyangoda was a leftist student leader and a member of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ( ...

- professor and former Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Colombo * Dr Maitree Wickramasinghe - academic and senior lecturer at the Department of English of the

* Professor Nira Wickramasinghe - historian and Professor of Modern South Asian Studies at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

in the Netherlands * Dr

Gihan Wikramanayake Gihan Nilendra Wikramanayake, FBCS, CITP (17 January 1960 – 5 January 2018) was a Sri Lankan academic. He was a Senior Professor in Computer Science and attached to the Department of Information Systems Engineering. He was the Director of the ...

- Head and Senior Lecturer, Department of Information Systems Engineering of the University of Colombo School of Computing

Artists

Novelists, poets and playwrights

*Professor

- Sri Lanka's premier playwright

Actors

Jackson Anthony Conganige Joseph Malsi Ushan Thimira Jackson Anthony (born July 8, 1958, as ජැක්සන් ඇන්තනී), commonly known as Jackson Anthony, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. One of the most popular artists ...

- actor, director, singer *

Iranganie Serasinghe Kala Keerthi Iranganie Roxanna Meedeniya, (born 9 June 1927"Irangani As Told to Kumar de Silva", Kumar de Silva, Samaranayake Publishers, 2013), popularly as Iranganie Serasinghe, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. Since h ...

- actress

Visual artists

Malaka Dewapriya Malaka Dewapriya ( si, මාලක දේවප්‍රිය, is a Sri Lankan film maker, visual artist, Sinhala Radio Play writer, short film and video director. Biography Born in Sri Lanka, Dewapriya graduated with a BA (Special) from th ...

- filmmaker, short film director, video artist, radio play writer

Judges

* Hon. Justice

Saleem Marsoof Saleem Marsoof, PC is a Sri Lankan judge and lawyer. He is a judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and former President of the Court of Appeal.

- former Judge of the Supreme Court * Hon. Justice

Neville Samarakoon Neville Dunbar Mirahawatte Samarakoon, Q.C. (22 October 1919 – 1990) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, who served as the 36th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1984. His father was A. C. W. Samarakoon and his mother was Chandrawathi Mirahawatte Ku ...

- former

Chief Justice of Sri Lanka The Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the Chief Justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are t ...

Sri Lankabhimanya Sri Lankabhimanya ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකාභිමාන්‍ය, translit=Śrī Laṃkābhimānya; ta, சிறீ லங்காபிமான்ய, translit=Ciṟī Laṅkāpimāṉya; The Pride of Sri Lanka) is the highest n ...

Hon. Justice

Christopher Weeramantry Sri Lankabhimanya Christopher Gregory Weeramantry, AM (17 November 1926 – 5 January 2017) was a Sri Lankan lawyer who was a Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from 1991 to 2000, serving as its vice-president from 1997 to 2000. ...

- former Judge of the International Court of Justice and the

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

Medicine

* Professor Hithanadura Janaka De Silva - Foundation Professor of Medicine University of Kelaniya, Dean Faculty of Medicine Kelaniya * Professor Devaka Fernando - Foundation Professor of Medicine University of Sri Jayawardanapura; Visiting Professor of Endocrinology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Sheffield; Honorary Professor, Sheffield Hallam University *Dr

Brendon Gooneratne Brendon Gooneratne (28 March 1938 – 21 June 2021) was a Sri Lankan scholarly method, scholar and physician. Educated at Royal College Colombo, Gooneratne gained his MBBS (Hons) from the University of Ceylon, Colombo and went on to gain a DAPE f ...

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

*Dr

- independence activist *Dr

Richard Lionel Spittel Richard Lionel Spittel, (commonly known as ''Dr. R. L. Spittel'') (9 December 1881 – 3 September 1969) was a Ceylonese physician and author. He was one of the foremost experts on the Vedda community. Education and career Richard Lionel Spit ...

, CMG,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

- naturalist and

Journalists

* Eva Ranaweera - feminist editor, poet and novelist *

Regi Siriwardena Kala Keerthi Regi Siriwardena (15 May 1922 – 15 December 2004) was a Sri Lankan academic, journalist, poet, writer, playwright and writer of screenplays. Early life and education Reginald Siriwardena (known as 'Reggie' until the 1980s) was ...

- journalist and writer

Sportsmen

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Dr. H.I.K. Fernando - former Ceylon cricketer * Lasantha Fernando - tennis champion and

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

player *

Jehan Mubarak Jehan Mubarak ( ta, ஜெகன் முபாரக்; born 10 January 1981) is an American-born former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who played all formats of the game. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. Pers ...

- cricketer * Tambyah Murugaser - former Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket; Sri Lanka team manager * Dr Ajith C. S. Perera - former test-match-panel senior cricket

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

; disability activist *

Mano Ponniah Charles Edward Manoharan "Mano" Ponniah (born 3 May 1943) is a Sri Lankan architect and engineer who played first-class cricket in Sri Lanka and England from 1964 to 1969. Cricket career in Ceylon Mano Ponniah attended S. Thomas' College, Moun ...

- former Ceylon cricketer and member of the Cambridge eleven *

Kumar Sangakkara Kumara Chokshananda Sangakkara ( si, කුමාර් චොක්ශනාද සංගක්කාර; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan cricket commentator, former professional cricketer, businessman, ICC Hall of Fame inductee and the ...

- captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team

Lawyers

* T.B. Dissanayake - former Commissioner of Assize * Palitha Fernando, PC - current

Attorney General of Sri Lanka The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan government's chief legal adviser, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The Attorney General is usually a highly respected Senior Advocate, and is appointed by the ruling go ...

and

Judge Advocate Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions. Australia The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that provi ...

of the Sri Lanka Navy

Engineers

* B.D Rampala - former Chief Mechanical Engineer and General Manager of the

Ceylon Government Railway The Sri Lanka Railway Department (more commonly known as Sri Lanka Railways (SLR)) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා දුම්රිය සේවය ''Śrī Laṃkā Dumriya Sēvaya''; Tamil: இலங்கை புகையிரத ...

Activists

Rajini Thiranagama Dr. Rajani Thiranagama (née Rajasingham) (23 February 1954 – 21 September 1989) was a Tamil human rights activist and feminist who was assassinated by Tamil Tigers cadres after she had criticised them for their atrocities. At the time of her ...

- human rights activist and feminist

Faculty

* Professor Sir

* Professor Sir Charles Irwin Ball * Professor

*Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri * Professor

J B Disanayake * Professor J B Disanayake * Professor

Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer ( ta, கிரிஸ்டி ஜெயரத்தினம் எலியேசர், translit=Kirisṭi Jeyarattiṉam Eliyēcar; 12 June 1918 – 10 March 2001) was a Ceylon Tamil mathematician, physicist an ...

, AM * Professor Savitri Goonesekere * Professor Kshanika Hirimburegama * Professor

Kumari Jayawardena Kumari Jayawardena ( si, කුමාරි ජයවර්ධන; born 1931) is a leading feminist activist and academic in Sri Lanka. Her work is part of the canon of Third-world feminism which conceptualizes feminist philosophies as indigen ...

* Professor Amal Jayawardane * Professor Sir William Ivor Jennings * Professor

Kusuma Karunaratne Kusuma Karunaratne ''nee'' Ediriweera Jayasooriya (born November 21, 1940) is a Sri Lankan academic, university administrator, Professor and scholar of Sinhala language, Sinhalese language and literature. Personal life Kusuma Jayasooriya was born ...

* Professor

Sarath Kotagama Vidya Jyothi Sarath Wimalabandara Kotagama ( si, සරත් විමලබන්ඩාර කොටගම) is a Sri Lankan ornithologist and environmentalist. He is a Professor Emeritus and former head of the Department of Zoology, University ...

* Professor S.R. Kottegoda * Professor

Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera, OBE, JP, (8 November 1899 – 23 April 1973) was a Sri Lankan academic, scholar and diplomat best known for his Malalasekara English-Sinhala Dictionary. He was the Ceylon's first Ambassador to the Soviet Unio ...

* Professor

Dharmasena Pathiraja Pathiraja Navaratne Wanninayake Mudiyanselage Ranjith Dharmasena (28 March 1943 – 28 January 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director and screenwriter. He has been referred to as a 'rebel with a cause', an ‘''enfant terrible'' of the '70s', and ...

* Professor

Anuradha Seneviratna Prof. Anuradha Seneviratna (July 13, 1938 - July 9, 2009) was a renowned Sri Lankan scholar. He wrote many scholarary works and he was a Senior Professor in the Department of Sinhala, University of Peradeniya. He has also worked in University of ...

* Professor K. N. Seneviratne * Professor

Priyani Soysa Deshamanya Priyani Elizabeth Soysa ( si, ප්‍රියානි සොයිසා; 23 November 1925 – 7 April 2023) was a Sri Lankan scientist who was Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics of the University of Colombo and the first woman to ...

Hedi Stadlen Hedi Stadlen (6 January 1916 – 21 January 2004), better known in Sri Lanka as Hedi Keuneman, was an Austrian Jewish philosopher, political activist, and musicologist. She was one of the handful of European Radicals in Sri Lanka. Vienna She was ...

* Professor Deepika Udagama * Professor

* Professor Nira Wickramasinghe * Professor Stanley Wijesundera

References

{{University of Colombo

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...