K. M. de Silva

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Professor

K. M. de Silva
Born (1931-12-31) 31 December 1931 (age 92)
Alma mater
OccupationAcademic

Kingsley Muthumuni de Silva (born 31 December 1931) is a Sri Lankan academic, historian and author. A former lecturer of history at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, de Silva has written numerous books on Sri Lankan history including the highly acclaimed A History of Sri Lanka.

Contents

Early life and family

De Silva was born on 31 December 1931. [1] He was educated at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya from where he received a BA degree in history. [1] He later received a Ph.D from the University of London for his research into the social policy of missionary organisations in the mid-19th century. [1]

De Silva is married to Chandra and they have a son Rajiv (Ravi). [2]

Career

After graduation de Silva started teaching at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. [1] He was made chair of Sri Lanka history at the university in 1969. [1] He held this position until 1995.

De Silva was awarded a D.Litt degree by the University of London in 1991. [1] He founded International Centre for Ethnic Studies in 1982 and served as its chairman and executive-director. [1] [3] He was awarded the 2002 Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in the academic category. [4] [5] De Silva was awarded the Deshamanya title in the 2017 Sri Lankan national honours. [6] [7] He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in May 2017.

Works

De Silva has written/edited numerous books during his long career. [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "2002年 (13th) 学术研究奖获奖 / Kingsley Muthumuni DE SILVA". Fukuoka Prize.
  2. ↑ de Silva, K. M. (1981). A History of Sri Lanka. Oxford University Press. p. viii.
  3. ↑ "Board of Directors". International Centre for Ethnic Studies.
  4. ↑ "Lankan historian wins prestigious prize". The Island (Sri Lanka) . 9 July 2002.
  5. ↑ "Prof. K. M. de Silva wins prestigious award". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka) . 28 July 2002. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "PART I : SECTION (I) – GENERAL Government Notifications NATIONAL HONOURS" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 2010/38. 17 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "National Honours after 12 years". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) . 19 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "K.M. De Silva". Penguin Books, India.
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