12 Facts About Cyril Ponnamperuma

Dr Cyril Andrew Ponnamperuma was a Sri Lankan scientist in the fields of chemical evolution and the origin of life.

Cyril Ponnamperuma was born in Sri Lanka on 16 October 1923.

Cyril Ponnamperuma was selected as the principal investigator for analysis of lunar soil brought to Earth by Project Apollo.

Cyril Ponnamperuma produced over 400 scientific publications and held a number of prestigious academic posts during his rather short lifespan.

Cyril Ponnamperuma's studies focused mainly towards the origin of life, but only after he was selected for the analysis of the Moon dust in the 'Apollo Programme' his name and photo appeared on the cover-pages of world class newspapers and magazines such as Time and Newsweek.

Cyril Ponnamperuma contributed immensely to the Third World Foundation of North America as its chairman.

Cyril Ponnamperuma was the first director of the "Arthur C Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies" in Sri Lanka, and in 1984 was appointed science advisor to the president of Sri Lanka by the late president JR Jayewardene.

Cyril Ponnamperuma was so fortunate, indeed, as to be associated with many universities in the US and other countries.

Cyril Ponnamperuma served as a distinguished lecturer at the Soviet Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a considerable period.

Cyril Ponnamperuma's country was fortunate to have a son so highly recognized in the world and so dedicated to many public causes.

Cyril Ponnamperuma died soon after suffering a heart attack at the Laboratory of Chemical Evolution, University of Maryland USA.

The remains of Professor Cyril Ponnamperuma were flown to Colombo on 9 January 1995.