Born November 5, 1931, Dr. Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne is the founder of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement of Sri Lanka. A former high school teacher at Nalanda College, he conducted the first shramadana work camp in 1958, which eventually lead to the establishment of the largest non-government organization in the country. The father of six distinguished adult children, he has led tens of thousands of family gatherings and meditations with millions of people throughout Sri Lanka and other parts of the world.
In this voluble, diminutive dynamo I found a scholar-activist who took the social teachings of the Buddha seriously and dared to believe that they could inspire change in the modern world. He had banked his life on that conviction, drawing from ancient traditions to empower what he called the poorest of the poor.
Education
- Doctor of Humanities (D.H.) degree, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Philippines
- Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) degree, Sri Jayawardenapura University, Sri Lanka
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Economics, Sinhala and Education, Vidyodaya University, Sri Lanka
International Awards
- Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize, India, 1996
- Hubert H. Humphrey Award, USA, 1996
- IL-GA Memorial Award for Public Service, Korea, 1995
- Niwano Peace Prize, Japan, 1992
- Jamnalal Bajaj Award for Propagating Gandhian Values outside India, 1990
- August Forel Award, Good Templar Movement for Promoting Temperance, Denmark, 1990
- Alan Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Award, Brown University, USA, 1986
- King Baudouin Award for International Development, Belgium, 1982
- Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, Philippines, 1969
Honorary International Appointments
- President of World Parliament of Religions, 1993
- International President, World Conference on Religion and Peace, 1994
- Member, Club of Budapest, Hungary
- Fellow, World Academy of Arts and Science, Minnesota, USA
- Advisor Interaction Council Ex heads of states
- Board of Director Peacemaker Circle International
- Advisor e-parliament
- Former Chair, Asian and Pacific Bureau of Adult Education
- Former Chair, Approtech Asia, Philippines
- Former Chair, Asian Institute of Rural Development, India
- International Advisory Council, Auroville (India) 1999-present
Sri Lankan Awards
- Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka
- Deshabandu Award for Distinguished National Service from the President, Sri Lanka
- Vishwa Prasadini Award from the Prime Minister, Sri Lanka, 1996
Collected Works
The seven volumes to date of A.T. Ariyaratne Collected Works provide a comprehensive collection of his speeches and writing in more than 1200 pages. To read the introduction please click here. The entire Collected Works are available for purchase through Sarvodaya USA for 60 USD.