Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan CBE (1896–1965) (also spelt Vaidyanathan) was a Ceylonese civil servant, politician, Member of the Senate and Minister of Housing and Social Services.
Having graduated with a BSc from the University of London, he joined the Ceylon Civil Service and served as a cadet in the Ratnapura Kachcheri in 1925.
[1] He went on to serve as the Information Officer of the Ceylon Government during World War 2 in the early 1940s[2] and from 1943 he was served as the Commissioner for Food (Supplies) of the Deptpartment of Ceylon Government Supplies in New Delhi, India.
[3] In 1947, he became the first Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence of independent Ceylon.
[8] He was elected vice president of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon) Branch in 1952.