List of British Sri Lankans explained

This is a list of notable people of Sri Lankan descent living in the United Kingdom. The term "Sri Lankan Britons" refers to Sri Lankans of all ethnic groups.

Academic

• Nishan Canagarajah - British Tamil academic and the current president and vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester.Abhaya Induruwa

Actors

• Jai Akash
• Tony Jayawardena
• Amara Karan
• Albert Moses
• Romesh Ranganathan – stand-up comedian, actor, presenter
• Nethra Tilakumara
• Kim Vithana

Business

• Subaskaran Allirajah – businessman, entrepreneur, founder of the Lycamobile; the world's largest MVNO based in the UK
• Karunamoorthy – film producer, founder of Ayngaran International
• Arjuna Sittampalam – financier
• Ratheesan Yoganathan – entrepreneur, founder of the Lebara

Engineers

• Cecil Balmond
• Shini Somara
• Kanagaratnam Sriskandan

Lawyers

• Desmond Lorenz de Silva

Media

• George Alagiah
• Nigel Barker
• Suranga Chandratillake
• James Coomarasamy
• Rasantha Cooray
• Vernon Corea
• Darshini David
• Elmo Fernando
• Christopher Greet
• Rohan Jayasekera
• Neville Jayaweera
• Tim Kash
• Calvin Chinthaka (fashion photographer)

Military

• Jack Churchill
• Cyril Nicholas

Musicians

• Arjun Coomaraswamy
• Beverley Craven
• Rohan de Saram
• Desmond de Silva
• Tanya Ekanayaka – composer, pianist
• Siva Kaneswaran
• Lay Low
• M.I.A.
• Nimal Mendis
• Andrew Nethsingha – choral conductor, organist
• DJ Nihal
• Ashan Pillai – violinist

Physicians

• Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran
• Henry Speldewinde de Boer
• Ajith Kumar Siriwardena
• Richard Lionel Spittel
• Nihal Gurusinghe – OBE professor, neurosurgeon

Politicians

• Desmond Lorenz de Silva
• Nirj Deva
• Jan Jananayagam
• Ranil Jayawardena
• Alexander Robert Johnston

Religion

• Kamal Chunchie
• Bogoda Seelawimala Nayaka Thera
• Lakshman Wickremasinghe

Scientists

• Suran Goonatilake
• Cyril Ponnamperuma^[1]
• Chandra Wickramasinghe

Sports

Cricket

• Alistair Blair - Ceylonese Cricketer, Born in British Ceylon and represented the Ceylon National Cricket Team.
• Jude Chaminda - Played First-class cricket in Wales.
• Dimitri Mascarenhas - English Cricketer of Sri Lankan Descent and played Hampsire and represented the England Cricket Team.
• Gehan Mendis - English and Sri Lankan Cricketer who played for Sussex and Lancashire.
• Walter Philps - Ceylonese Cricketer who played for Buckinghamshire.
• Glucka Wijesuriya - English and Sri Lankan Cricketer who played for Suffolk.

Football

See also: British Asians in association football

• Dillon De Silva - winger for Sutton United and the Sri Lankan National Team.
• Sam Durrant - plays as a winger for Dundalk.
• Vimal Yoganathan - plays as a midfielder for Barnsley and Wales U19.
• Nikki Ahmed - former midfielder who played for Chelsea and FSV Frankfurt.
• Marvin Hamilton - midfielder for Hythe Town and the Sri Lanka National Team.

Other

• Murugan Thiruchelvam - Chess Played
• Duncan White - British Ceylon born Olympic Athlete who represented Ceylon at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where he won a Silver Medal and became the first Ceylonese/Sri Lankan to win a medal in the Modern day Olympics.

Writers

• Mahinda Deegalle
• Rohan Jayasekera
• Michael Ondaatje
• Nadarajah Selvarajah
• Ambalavaner Sivanandan

Others

• Kali Arulpragasam
• Peter Kuruvita
• Sir Christopher Ondaatje
• Ganesh Sittampalam
• Anton Balasingham

See also

• List of Sri Lankans

Notes and References

1. News: Cyril Ponnamperuma, Scholar of Life's Origins, is Dead at 71. The New York Times. 24 December 1994. Sullivan. Walter.