Richard Lionel Spittel, CMG, CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

, FRCS (commonly known as Dr. R. L. Spittel) (December 9, 1881 – September 3, 1969) was a British Ceylon

British Ceylon

British Ceylon refers to British rule prior to 1948 of the island territory now known as Sri Lanka.-From the Dutch to the British:Before the beginning of the Dutch governance, the island of Ceylon was divided between the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Kandy, who were in the midst of a war for...

ese (Sri Lankan) physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

, naturalist

Naturalist

Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...

 and author

Author

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. He was one of the foremost experts on the veddah community.

Education and carrier

Born in Tangalle

Tangalle

Tangalle is a town on the southern coast of Sri Lanka located in the Hambantota District. It has a mild climate, in comparison to the rest of the district, and sandy beaches....

 to Dr Fedric George Spittel, who would later become a District Medical Officer in Ceylon Health Service, he was educated at the Royal College Colombo

Royal College Colombo

The Royal College of Colombo was founded in January 1835 in Colombo. It is considered to be the leading Public School in Sri Lanka...

 and Ceylon Medical College where he passed LMS

LMS

LMS may refer to:* Lady Manners School, a seventeenth century comprehensive school in Bakewell, England.* Lancaster Mennonite School, a school located in Lancaster, PA.* Last man standing , a gametype featured in several computer and video games...

 in 1905. Thereafter he join the government medical service and was sent to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 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 as Third Surgeon at the General Hospital

General Hospital

General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

 Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of 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 for medicine. A life long member of the British Medical Association

British Medical Association

The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...

, he was the president of the Ceylon's Branch from 1940 to 1946.

Author

An avid naturalist, Dr Spittel made many trips to the jungles of Ceylon, gaining much knowledge into the flora and fauna and the aborigines of the island, the veddahs. His studies on the veddahs made him and expert on this little understood people. Based on his studies he authored several books, that gain much fame during his own lifetime. His works included novels, poems and academic studies.

Family

Dr Spittel married a fellow student Claire Van Dort, daughter of one of Ceylon's most distinguished physicians, Dr W G Van Dort and they had two daughters.

External links and References

• R. L. Spittel, C.M.G., C.B.E., L.M.S., F.R.C.S., , British Medical Journal
  British Medical Journal
  BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
  
  , 1969
• Dr. R. L. Spittel: Surgeon of the wilderness
• R. L. Spittle: Master writer of the wilds, by J. A. K. Jayakody