28 May 2023
The Pugwash community was deeply saddened to learn of the death of former Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala yesterday at the age of 85. Across the span of his life and career, Dhanapala’s dedication to the goals of disarmament and peace was remarkable and his commitment will be a loss to us all.
Dhanapala had diplomatic postings for the Sri Lankan foreign service in London, Beijing, Washington DC, New Delhi and Geneva. He performed duties in ambassadorial appointments in Geneva accredited to the UN from 1984-1987 and in Washington DC from 1995-1997. He served as Conference President during the 1995 NPT Review Conference which indefinitely extended the Treaty, and subsequently Dhanapala became the UN Under-Secretary-General for the Office for Disarmament Affairs from 1998-2003.
Jayantha Dhanapala served as Pugwash President from 2007-2017 with great distinction. He also served as a member of the Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka from 2018-2020, and the Deputy Chairman of the Governing Board of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He received many international awards and honorary doctorates, and published five books and several articles in international journals and lectured widely. Dhanapala also engaged pro-actively and innovatively in political, disarmament, economic, trade, human rights and cultural matters in both bilateral and multilateral contexts.
Personal Reflections
I have known Jayantha Dhanapala since the 1980’s, when we were colleagues at our respective delegations to the Conference on Disarmament. His outstanding qualities as a diplomat and a human being earned him the respect and admiration of all. He served his country, Sri Lanka, with dedication and competence as Ambassador to Washington and later in important domestic government assignments. He was Director of UNIDIR, President of the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conferences and Undersecretary General for Disarmament Affairs as well as my predecessor as president of Pugwash. Jayantha will be sorely missed but his example will always be an inspiration. May he rest in peace. Sergio Duarte, President of Pugwash
It is a very sad news to learn that, Jayantha Dhanapala, our former President of Pugwash died. He has been an historic personality: he gave a great contribution to the indefinite extension of the NPT, he promoted disarmament and peace in all possible ways. As President of Pugwash he gave new light to our organization. He will be dearly remembered by all the people who are working for Peace and Disarmement. We should in particular remember him when we work for promoting peace in a particularly dangerous and complicated world. Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Secretary-General of Pugwash
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs 