James Coomarasamy

James Coomarasamy
Born
London, England
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
EmployerBBC
Known forNews broadcaster
PartnerNanette van der Laan[1]

James Coomarasamy is a British presenter of the BBC Radio 4 evening programme The World Tonight and the flagship Newshour programme on the BBC World Service.

Before joining Newshour in 2010, Coomarasamy spent a year presenting the failed programme Europe Today. Before becoming a presenter (announcer) he had been a BBC correspondent in Warsaw, followed by Paris, then Washington, D.C..

Early life

Coomarasamy was born in London to parents of English and Sri Lankan ancestry.[citation needed] He was privately educated at Christ's Hospital, an independent school for boys (not co-educational), near Horsham, West Sussex, followed by Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he studied modern and medieval languages.[2] He is fluent in French and Russian, and he speaks and understands some Polish words.[3]

Career

Coomarasamy has worked primarily for the BBC:[4]

  • 1991. Production assistant in the BBC Moscow bureau, after which he freelanced in Moscow as a reporter-producer
  • Producer for the BBC World in London
  • December 1994. Returned to Moscow as the bureau's bi-media producer, covering major stories such as the war in Chechnya
  • November 1997. In Warsaw as the BBC correspondent covering events in Poland, the Baltics and Ukraine
  • From 1999 to 2003. The BBC's Paris reporter, covering for both radio and television
  • From February 2005. Correspondent in Washington, D.C., for North America
  • 2009. Presented Europe Today for the BBC World Service
  • 2010. Joined the presentation team for Newshour on the BBC World Service

Personal life

Coomarasamy is married to Nanette van der Laan. They have two children: Maya and Finn.[5]

References

  1. ^ "James Coomarasamy". Twitter. 14 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Tripos examination results from Cambridge University", The Times, 11 June 1990, p. 37.
  3. ^ "Profile". BBC World Service.
  4. ^ "Profile". BBC TV news. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006.
  5. ^ Coomarasamy, James (27 April 2003). "Au revoir, Parisian parenthood". BBC News.


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