{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = |name = A. T. Moorthy |native_name = |native_name_lang = |honorific_suffix = |image = Moorthy ECAFE 1968.jpg |image_size = |order1 = |office1 = [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]] |term_start1 = January 1981 |term_end1 = May 1984 |predecessor1 = [[Noel Wimalasena]] |successor1 = Chandra Monerawela |order2 = |office2 = [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan]] |term_start2 = 1978 |term_end2 = 1981 |predecessor2 = |successor2 = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|08|10|df=yes}} |birth_place = [[Batticaloa District]], [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|2008|04|01|1928|08|10|df=yes}} |death_place = [[London]], [[United Kingdom]] |citizenship = |party = |other_party = |spouse = |partner = |relations = |children = |alma_mater = [[University of Ceylon, Colombo]] |occupation = |profession = Diplomat |website = |footnotes = |blank1 = Ethnicity |data1 = [[Sri Lankan Tamil people|Sri Lankan Tamil]] }} '''Arambamoorthy Thedchana Moorthy''' (10 August 1928 – 1 April 2008) was a [[Sri Lankan Tamil people|Sri Lankan Tamil]] diplomat and [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]].
==Early life and family== Moorthy was born on 10 August 1928 in [[Batticaloa District]] in eastern [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]].<ref name=TG190508>{{cite news|last1=Farrell|first1=Tom|title=Obituary: AT Moorthy|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/19/srilanka|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=19 May 2008}}</ref> He was educated at Sivananda Vidyalayam, Batticaloa and [[Jaffna College]].<ref name=TG190508/> After school he joined the [[University of Ceylon, Colombo]], graduating in 1948 with a degree in economics.<ref name=TG190508/>
Moorthy married Suseela, daughter of [[P. Sriskandarajah]], in 1959.<ref name=TG190508/> They had two daughters (Uma and Ima) and a son (Sri Ayilavan).<ref name=TG190508/>
==Career== Moorthy joined the [[Ceylon Overseas Service]] in 1953 and his first diplomatic posting was in [[Jakarta]], [[Indonesia]].<ref name=TG190508/> He became [[chargé d'affaires]] of the Ceylonese embassy in [[Beijing]], [[China]] in 1957, meeting leaders such as [[Mao Zedong]] and [[Zhou Enlai]].<ref name=TG190508/> He was first secretary at the [[High Commission of Ceylon, London]] between 1961 and 1963.<ref name=TG190508/> During this time Moorthy and Suseela studied for the bar at [[Gray's Inn]].<ref name=TG190508/> He was [[called to the bar]] in 1965.<ref name=TG190508/>
Moorthy then served in various diplomatic positions: first secretary in West Germany (1964–66); chargé d'affaires in Thailand (1969–70); permanent representative to the [[United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East]]; and chargé d'affaires in Iraq (1970).<ref name=TG190508/> He returned to Sri Lanka in 1974 to co-ordinate the fifth [[Non-Aligned Summit]] which was to be held in [[Colombo]] in 1976.<ref name=TG190508/> He was appointed [[Sri Lankan Ambassador to Pakistan|Ambassador to Pakistan]] in 1978 (also [[Diplomatic accreditation|accredited]] to Iran).<ref name=TG190508/> After the 1979 [[Iranian Revolution]] Moorthy played an important role in [[Sri Lankan government]]'s attempts to free the [[Iran hostage crisis|US hostages in Iran]].<ref name=TG190508/>
In 1981 Moorthy was appointed [[Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]].<ref name=TG190508/><ref>{{cite web|title=The History of the High Commission|url=http://www.srilankahighcommission.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=71|publisher=[[High Commission of Sri Lanka, London]]|access-date=2015-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303003548/http://www.srilankahighcommission.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=71|archive-date=2015-03-03|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=de Silva|first1=Bandu|title=Reply to I. P. C. Mendis: Sri Lanka Foreign Service|url=http://www.island.lk/2007/02/21/midweek3.html|work=[[The Island (Sri Lanka)]]|date=21 February 2007}}</ref> Back in Sri Lanka violence against the country's Tamils escalated, culminating in the [[Black July]] riots of 1983.<ref name=TG190508/> [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] expatriates living in the UK started a campaign to have Moorthy replaced by a Buddhist Sinhalese.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The London Hilton Jamboree|journal=[[Tamil Times]]|date=September 1985|volume=IV|issue=11|page=12|url=http://noolaham.net/project/32/3142/3142.pdf|issn=0266-4488}}</ref> He received a letter, allegedly from a member of the Sinhala Association in UK, threatening his life.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Niwunhella|first1=Sujeeva|title=Britain will not name banned terrorists tomorrow|url=http://www.island.lk/2001/02/18/news01.html|work=[[The Island (Sri Lanka)]]|date=18 February 2001}}</ref> The Sri Lankan government ordered Moorthy to declare that his appointment was evidence that there was no serious discrimination against the Tamils.<ref name=TG190508/> Moorthy refused make such a declaration and resigned in 1984.<ref name=TG190508/>
Moorthy and his family remained in the UK.<ref>{{cite news|title=The chimes of peace|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/020811/plus/9.html|work=[[The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)]]|date=11 August 2002}}</ref> He died on 1 April 2008 in London.<ref name=TG190508/>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
{{Commons category|A. T. Moorthy|position=left}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorthy, A. T.}} [[Category:1928 births]] [[Category:2008 deaths]] [[Category:People from Eastern Province, Sri Lanka]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Ceylon (Colombo)]] [[Category:Alumni of Jaffna College]] [[Category:High commissioners of Sri Lanka to Pakistan]] [[Category:High commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Iran]] [[Category:Members of Gray's Inn]] [[Category:English people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent]] [[Category:People from British Ceylon]] [[Category:Tamil people]] [[Category:Sri Lankan Tamil people]] [[Category:20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers]]