K D PARANAVITANA A graduate of the University of Ceylon (1968) Dr. Paranavitana has worked for the national archives since 1970. In 1979 he specialised in 17th and 18th century Dutch language at the National Archives of the Netherlands. In 1994 he obtained his PhD. At the University of New South wales, Australia with his thesis on the Archives of the Dutch East India Company administration in Ceylon 1640 – 1796. In 1996 he retired as deputy director of the National Archives and joined the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale. His publications include Land for Money, the Dutch Land Registration in Sri Lanka (2001); Galle, the Heritage City (2005) and his translation of the Travel Journals of Jaris van Spilbergan, the first Dutch envoy to Ceylon (1997). He has published several books in Sinhala and contributed widely to scholarly journals. In 2002 Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Kingdom of the Netherlands conferred on him Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
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