Richard Lionel Spittel
Richard Lionel Spittel, was a Ceylonese physician and author. He was one of the foremost experts on the Vedda community.
Education and career
Richard Lionel Spittel was born in Tangalle on 9 December 1881, the fourth child of Dr Frederick George Spittel and Zilia Eleanor Andree née Jansz. Spittel received his education at Royal College, Colombo and the Ceylon Medical College, where he passed LMS in 1905. Thereafter he joined the government medical service and was sent to England in 1906 to complete his higher education. There he finished conjoint diploma in 1908 and took FRCS in 1909.Returning to Ceylon in 1910, he was appointed the Third Surgeon at the General Hospital Colombo. Going on to be a senior surgeon and a lecturer at the Ceylon Medical College, he retired in 1935, yet worked as a consultant surgeon and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1942 and a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1950 for his services towards medicine and surgery. A lifelong member of the British Medical Association, he was the President of its Ceylon Branch from 1940 to 1946. He served as President of Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon from 1936 to 1938.