Kala Keerthi The Kala Keerthi ( si, කලා කීර්ති) is a Sri Lankan Sri Lankan honours system, national honour awarded "''for extraordinary achievements and contributions in arts, culture and drama''". It is the highest national honour for arts, cu ...

Vini Vitharana ( si, විනි විතාරන) (2 June 1928 – 2 December 2019) was a Sri Lankan Sinhalese linguist, professor, lecturer and a scholar. 1 He was well known for his significant contributions to

Sinhala literature Sri Lankan literature is the literary tradition of Sri Lanka. The largest part of Sri Lankan literature was written in the Sinhala language, but there is a considerable number of works in other languages used in Sri Lanka over the millennia (inc ...

. During his lifetime, he was rated as one of the prominent notable educators in the country.

Career

Vitharana had completed his primary education at the Christ Church College in Tangalle and pursued his secondary school education at

Mahinda College Mahinda College is a Buddhist boys' school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established on 1 March 1892 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. As of May 2022 it is a national school providing primary and secon ...

, Galle. He obtained bachelor's degrees from 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 ...

and

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 degree ...

. He completed his doctorate in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

in 1966 at the

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

. He served as an assistant editor of the Sinhala Encyclopedia from 1957 to 1959 for a period of two years. In 1960, he became a visiting lecturer at the

Vidyodaya University Vidyodaya School is a private college-preparatory combined-grades school located in Thevakkal, Kochi, India. It provides comprehensive school education from lower primary to grade 12. About Established in 1990-91 the school conducts classes fr ...

. He was a recipient of a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

award for his notable contributions to Sinhala literature in 1962. He received the prestigious

award from the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the is ...

in 1993.

Death

He died on 2 December 2019 at the age of 91 in the early morning due to illness. The funeral was held in

Borella Borella is the largest suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka represented by divisional code 8. Demographic Borella is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic area. The major ethnic communities in Borella are Sinhalese and Tamils. There are also various other ...

on 4 December 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitharana, Vini 1928 births 2019 deaths Buddhist apologists Sri Lankan educators Academics of Vidyodaya University Sri Lankan philosophers Sri Lankan scholars of Buddhism Alumni of the University of Peradeniya Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Ceylon Alumni of Mahinda College