Michael Richard Ratnarajan Hoole (commonly known as Rajan Hoole) is 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, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

mathematician, academic and human rights activist. He was one of the founders of University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) which documented

human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...

during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Early life and family

Hoole is the son of eldest son of Rev. Richard Herbert Ratnathurai Hoole and Jeevamany Somasundaram. He was educated at Chundikuli Girls' College,

St. John's College, Jaffna '' , motto_translation = Light Shines in the Darkness , location = , streetaddress = Main Street, Chundikuli , region = , city = Jaffna, Jaffna District , state = , p ...

and

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , song = Thomian Song , athletics = Yes , sports = Yes , nickname = Thora , denomination = Anglican , patron ...

. 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 ...

. In 1982 he received a

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

in mathematical logic from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Hoole is married to Kirupa (Kirubai) Selvadurai, a fellow academic from the

University of Jaffna The University of Jaffna ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணப் பல்கலைக்கழகம், translit=Yāḻppāṇap Palkalaikkaḻakam; si, යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ''Yāpanaya Viśvavidyālaya''; ...

. He is the brother of

Ratnajeevan Hoole Professor Samuel Ratnajeevan Herbert Hoole (born 15 September 1952; commonly known as Ratnajeevan Hoole) is a Sri Lankan Tamil engineer and academic. He is a member of the election commission of Sri Lanka. Early life and family Hoole was born on ...

Career

Hoole worked as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

. Hoole was amongst three hundred academics who, in 1988, formed the

University Teachers for Human Rights *''For the figure in Norse mythology, see Urðr'' The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) or UTHR(J) was formed in 1988 at the University of Jaffna, Jaffna, in Sri Lanka, as part of the national organization University Teachers for H ...

(Jaffna) to document and report the increasing number of human rights violations in Sri Lanka's

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Following the assassination of

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 ...

, one of the founders of UTHR(J), in 1989, many members of UTHR(J) left the organisation. Hoole, along with fellow UTHR(J) member

Kopalasingham Sritharan Kopalasingham Sritharan is a Tamil Human Rights activist who along with Rajan Hoole ran the University Teachers for Human Rights while affiliated to the Department of Mathematics, University of Jaffna. He was awarded the prestigious Martin Ennals ...

, left

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

and went into hiding but they continued with their UTHR(J) work, documenting atrocities committed by all sides of the civil war. Hoole and Sritharan were finalists for the 2005

Civil Courage Prize The Civil Courage Prize is a human rights award which recognizes "steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk—rather than military valor." The prize was founded in 2000 by the Northcote Parkinson Fund. The goal of the prize is not to cr ...

but ultimately won "Certificates of Distinction in Civil Courage" and a $1,000 cash prize. In 2007 Hoole and Sritharan received the

Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, sometimes called "the Nobel Prize for human rights", is an annual prize for human rights defenders. It was created in 1993 to honour and protect individuals around the world who demonstrate except ...

. Hoole is currently a senior lecturer at the

's Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He was trained as a classical pianist.

Works

* ''The Broken Palmyra: The Tamil Crisis in Sri Lanka - an Inside Account'' (1988, UHarvey Mudd College California) (co-author) * ''Sri Lanka: the Arrogance of Power : Myths, Decadence and Murder'' (2001, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna))

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoole, Rajan Academics of the University of Jaffna Alumni of St. John's College, Jaffna Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of the University of Ceylon Alumni of the University of Oxford Living people National University of Singapore faculty People from Jaffna Sri Lankan human rights activists Sri Lankan mathematicians Sri Lankan Tamil academics Sri Lankan Tamil activists Sri Lankan Tamil scientists Sri Lankan Tamil writers Year of birth missing (living people)