| S. Arasaratnam | |
| Birth Date: | 20 March 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Navaly, Ceylon |
| Death Place: | Sydney, Australia |
| Alma Mater: | Jaffna College University of Ceylon University of London |
| Occupation: | Academic |
Sinnappah Arasaratnam (20 March 1930 – 4 October 1998) was a Sri Lankan academic, historian and author, born during British colonial rule. Known as 'Arasa', he was a lecturer at the University of Ceylon, University of Malaya and University of New England (Australia).
Arasaratnam was born on 20 March 1930 in Navaly in northern British Ceylon.[1] He was educated at Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai.[2] After school he joined the University of Ceylon in 1947 from where he graduated in 1951 with a First Class Honours BA degree.[1] [2]
Arasaratnam married Thanalakshmi (Padma), daughter of Selvathurai. They had two daughters (Sulochana and Ranjana) and a son (Niranjan).[2] Arasaratnam was a practising Christian who attended the Uniting Church in Armidale, New South Wales.[1]
After graduation in 1951 Arasaratnam was appointed an assistant lecturer of history at the University of Ceylon.[1] [2] In 1954 he joined the University of London to carry out doctoral research and in 1956 he graduated with a Ph.D in history.[1] [2] On returning to Ceylon Arasaratnam rejoined the University of Ceylon as a lecturer.[1] [2] He was appointed lecturer in Indian Studies at the University of Malaya in 1961.[1] He was promoted to professor of history in 1968.[1] [2]
Arasaratnam was appointed second professor in the Department of History at the University of New England (Australia) in 1972.[1] [2] He took up the post in 1973. He held the Smuts Fellowship in Commonwealth Studies, Cambridge in 1977.[1] Arasaratnam retired from the University of New England in March 1995.[1] He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1996.[3]
Arasaratnam died suddenly in Sydney, Australia on 4 October 1998.[1] He was 68.
Arasaratnam was prolific writer — he wrote 15 books and 93 articles/chapters.[1] [4] His literary works were achieved while heavily engaged with activities such as sitting on key bodies such as the Academic Advisory Committee.[5]