T. Somasekaram Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Sri Lanka Sikhamani
Thamotharam Somasekaram
Honorific-Suffix:FRGS
Order1:37th
Office1:Surveyor General of Sri Lanka
Term Start1:1991
Term End1:1992
Predecessor1:E. M. Perera
Successor1:S. Berugoda
Birth Date:22 September 1934
Alma Mater:Jaffna Hindu College
University of Ceylon
Fitzwilliam College
Ohio State University
Profession:Surveyor
Blank1:Ethnicity
Data1:Sri Lankan Tamil

Sri Lanka Sikhamani Thamotharam Somasekaram (22 September 1934  - 11 March 2010) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil geographer and Surveyor General.

Early life and family

Somasekaram was born on 22 September 1934.[1] He was educated at the Jaffna Hindu College.[2] [3] After school he joined the University of Ceylon, Colombo from where he graduated in 1956 with a BSc degree.[1] [4] [5]

Somasekaram married Sathanithi. They had three children (Damayanthi, Jayanthi and Arjun).[6] [7]

Career

After university Somasekaram joined the Government Survey Department as an Assistant Superintendent of Surveys.[1] [4] A year later he joined Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge in 1958 to study the Part II course in geography, which he completed in 1959.[1] On returning to Ceylon he rejoined the Survey Department.[1] [4] He became Superintendent of Surveys in 1967, Assistant Surveyor General in 1971 and Deputy Surveyor General in 1973.[1] [4] The latter position made in head of the Institute of Surveying and Mapping.[4]

Somasekaram joined the Ohio State University in 1976 on a United Nations Fellowship, graduating with an MSc in Geodesy and Cartography.[1] [4] [5]

Somasekaram became Surveyor General in 1991.[1] [8] He came up with the idea of the Sri Lankan Atlas and chaired the committee charged with creating it.[1] [4] He was awarded the Sri Lanka Sikhamani title, a Sri Lankan national honour, in 1990 for this work.[1]

Somasekaram was president of the Surveyors' Institute of Sri Lanka (1985–87) and the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science.[1] [4] [9] In 1998 he was admitted as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Jaffna.[1] [4] He was vice-president of the Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka between 1985 and 1991 and a member of the Canadian Institute of Geomatics.[4]

Later life

Somasekaram wrote a number of books after retirement.[4] Among them are: Surveying Stories,[10] and Arjuna's A-Z Street Guide.[11]

He died on 11 March 2010.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fitzwilliam Journal 2012. Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140512221145/http://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/mi-client/media/import/documents/Fitzwilliam2012Part3.pdf. 2014-05-12.
  2. News: Somasekaram. T.. Memorial for IPKF. The Island (Sri Lanka). 23 March 2004.
  3. News: Somasekaram. T.. Reconditioning the public service. Daily News (Sri Lanka). 6 April 2002. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20041222193424/http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/04/06/fea03.html. 22 December 2004.
  4. News: Mahaarachchi. R.. Mapping the life of a fine man and outstanding Surveyor General. The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 16 May 2010.
  5. Web site: 258th Commencement. Ohio State University. 11. Autumn 1976.
  6. Web site: Dr.T.Somasekaram former Surveyor General of Sri Lanka and Jaffna Hindu College Oldboy passed away. Tamil Sydney. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305090352/http://www.tamilsydney.com/content/view/2672/37/. 2016-03-05.
  7. News: Obituaries. Daily News (Sri Lanka). 12 March 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100315152111/http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/03/12/main_Obituaries.asp. 15 March 2010.
  8. Web site: History. Department of Survey (Sri Lanka). dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140416050210/http://www.survey.gov.lk/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=55&lang=en. 2014-04-16.
  9. Web site: About SISL. The Surveyors' Institute of Sri Lanka. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130805124623/http://www.sisl.lk/about-us.html. 2013-08-05.
  10. Book: Somasekaram, T . Surveying Stories . January 2001 . Arjuna Consulting Co. Ltd . 955-9276-05-0 . Dehiwela, Sri Lanka . 2001 .
  11. Book: Somasekaram, T . Arjuna's A-Z Street Guide . 2000 . Arjuna Consulting Co. Ltd . 955-9276-00-X . 2nd . Dehiwela, Sri Lanka .