Richard Lionel Spittel was born in Tangalle on 9 December 1881, the fourth child of Dr Frederick George Spittel (1853–1943) (who later became a District Medical Officer in Ceylon Health Service) and Zilia Eleanor Andree née Jansz (1855–?).

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.

An avid nature-lover, Spittel made many trips to the jungles of Ceylon, gaining much knowledge of the flora and fauna and the aborigines of the island, the Veddas.

Based on his ethnographic studies, he authored several books that gained much fame during his lifetime.

Spittel married a fellow medical student Claribel Frances Van Dort, daughter of one of Ceylon's most distinguished physicians and a member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, Dr William Gregory van Dort, on 28 December 1911 at St Michael and All Angels' Church, Colombo.