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K. Sivathamby
Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby (Tamil: கார்த்திகேசு சிவத்தம்பி; 10 May 1932 – 6 July 2011) was a Sri Lankan Tamil literary historian, author and academic. Early life and familySivathamby was born on 10 May 1932 in Karaveddy in northern Ceylon.[1][2][3][4] He was the son of T. P. Karthigesu, a Tamil pundit, and Valliammai.[1][5] He was educated at Vigneswara Vidyalayam and Zahira College, Colombo (1949–52).[1][2] After school Sivathamby joined the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1953, studying under K. Kanapathypillai and graduating with B.A. degree in history, economics and Tamil.[1][3][4] Sivathamby became a Marxist during his university days.[2] He later received a M.A. degree in Tamil, under the guidance of S. Vithiananthan, from the university.[2][3] Sivathamby received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Birmingham in 1970 after producing thesis, supervised by George Derwent Thomson, on drama in ancient Tamil society.[3][4][6] Sivathamby was married to Rupavathy.[3][4] They had three daughters (Mangai, Kothai and Varthani).[3][4] CareerSivathamby worked as a simultaneous interpreter at the House of Representatives of Ceylon before teaching at Zahira College.[3][4] He then taught at Vidyodaya University (1965–78) before joining the University of Jaffna in 1978 and heading up its Tamil and Aesthetic Studies departments.[3][4][7] He retired from the University of Jaffna in 1996 but then served as emeritus professor at the university until his death.[3][4][7] Sivathamby was a visiting professor of Tamil at the Uppsala University (1992), University of Madras (1998) and Institute of International Tamil Studies, Madras (1999).[3][7] He was senior research/visiting fellow at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi (1982), Tamil University (1982) and University of Cambridge (1983–84).[3][4][7] Sivathamby was chairman of the Coordinating Committee of Citizens of North and East of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation Organisation (1986–98).[3][4] He was also patron of the Colombo Tamil Sangam.[3] Sivathamby died on 6 July 2011 at his home in Dehiwala, Colombo following a heart attack.[1][3][4] WorksSivathamby wrote around 70 books and 200 research papers including:[3][4][8][9][10]
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