Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby (Tamil: கார்த்திகேசு சிவத்தம்பி; 10 May 1932 – 6 July 2011) was a Sri Lankan Tamil literary historian, author and academic.

Sivathamby was born on 10 May 1932 in Karaveddy in northern Ceylon.^[1][2][3][4] He was the son of T. P. Karthigesu, a Tamil pundit, and Valliammai.^[1][5] He was educated at Vigneswara Vidyalayam and Zahira College, Colombo (1949–52).^[1][2] After school Sivathamby joined the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1953, studying under K. Kanapathypillai and graduating with B.A. degree in history, economics and Tamil.^[1][3][4] Sivathamby became a Marxist during his university days.^[2] He later received a M.A. degree in Tamil, under the guidance of S. Vithiananthan, from the university.^[2][3] Sivathamby received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Birmingham in 1970 after producing thesis, supervised by George Derwent Thomson, on drama in ancient Tamil society.^[3][4][6]

Sivathamby was married to Rupavathy.^[3][4] They had three daughters (Mangai, Kothai and Varthani).^[3][4]

Sivathamby worked as a simultaneous interpreter at the House of Representatives of Ceylon before teaching at Zahira College.^[3][4] He then taught at Vidyodaya University (1965–78) before joining the University of Jaffna in 1978 and heading up its Tamil and Aesthetic Studies departments.^[3][4][7] He retired from the University of Jaffna in 1996 but then served as emeritus professor at the university until his death.^[3][4][7]

Sivathamby was a visiting professor of Tamil at the Uppsala University (1992), University of Madras (1998) and Institute of International Tamil Studies, Madras (1999).^[3][7] He was senior research/visiting fellow at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi (1982), Tamil University (1982) and University of Cambridge (1983–84).^[3][4][7]

Sivathamby was chairman of the Coordinating Committee of Citizens of North and East of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation Organisation (1986–98).^[3][4] He was also patron of the Colombo Tamil Sangam.^[3] Sivathamby died on 6 July 2011 at his home in Dehiwala, Colombo following a heart attack.^[1][3][4]

Sivathamby wrote around 70 books and 200 research papers including:^{[3][4][8][9][10]}

• The Tamil Film as a Medium of Political Communication (1981, New Century Book House)
• Drama in Ancient Tamil Society (1981, New Century Book House)
• Literary History in Tamil: A Historiographical Analysis (1986, Tamil University)
• Sri Lankan Tamil Society and Politics (1995, New Century Book House)
• Studies in Ancient Tamil Society: Economy, Society and the State Formation (1998, New Century Book House)
• Being Tamil and Sri Lankan (2005, Aivakam)
• Confronting the Prospects for Peace in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan Tamils: Introduction to Their History Culture and Politics
• Tamil Nationalism and Social Conflicts
• The Origin and Development of Tamil Short Story, Novel and Life
• Understanding the Dravidian Movement