Professor Herbert Allan Aponso: ‘The Great Centenarian’

Herbert Allan Aponso, a true legend, the doyen of Paediatrics / Child Health, Professor Emeritus celebrated his 100 th birthday on the 25 th of March 2025, thus becoming a centenarian.

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What a rare and glorious moment of anyone’s life!

I simply cannot recall any university academic achieving this exceptional milestone in Sri Lanka.

Born on the 25 th of March 1925 in Lakshapitiya, Moratuwa, Professor Aponso has witnessed and thrived through a century of immense global change. It is fascinating to reflect on the world and Sri Lanka as they were in 1925. At that time, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was still a British colony, 23 years away from independence, with a population of just 4 million and an average life expectancy was below 40 years.

The world political map in 1925, was vastly different from that of today. One single Korea, India although Pakistan and Bangladesh, one single Korea, no official Israel, and it was just three years after the fall of Ottoman Empire.