James Coomarasamy
James Coomarasamy | |
---|---|
Born | London, England |
Education | University of Cambridge |
Employer | BBC |
Known for | News broadcaster |
Partner | Nanette van der Laan[1] |
James Coomarasamy is a British presenter of the BBC Radio 4 evening programme The World Tonight and the flagship Newshour programme on the BBC World Service.
Before joining Newshour in 2010, Coomarasamy spent a year presenting the now defunct programme Europe Today. Before becoming a presenter (announcer) he had been a BBC correspondent in Warsaw, followed by Paris, then Washington, D.C.
Early life
Coomarasamy was born in London to parents of English and Sri Lankan ancestry.[citation needed] He was privately educated at Christ's Hospital, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), near Horsham, West Sussex, followed by Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he studied modern and medieval languages.[2] He is fluent in French and Russian, and he speaks some Polish.[3]
Career
Coomarasamy has worked primarily for the BBC:[4]
- 1991. Production assistant in the BBC Moscow bureau, after which he freelanced in Moscow as a reporter-producer
- Producer for the BBC World in London
- December 1994. Returned to Moscow as the bureau's bi-media producer, covering major stories such as the war in Chechnya
- November 1997. In Warsaw as the BBC correspondent covering events in Poland, the Baltics and Ukraine
- From 1999 to 2003. The BBC's Paris reporter, covering for both radio and television
- From February 2005. Correspondent in Washington, D.C., for North America
- 2009. Presented Europe Today for the BBC World Service
- 2010. Joined the presentation team for Newshour on the BBC World Service
Personal life
Coomarasamy is married to Nanette van der Laan. They have two children: Maya and Finn.[5]
References
- ^ "James Coomarasamy". Twitter. 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Tripos examination results from Cambridge University", The Times, 11 June 1990, p. 37.
- ^ "Profile". BBC World Service.
- ^ "Profile". BBC TV news. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006.
- ^ Coomarasamy, James (27 April 2003). "Au revoir, Parisian parenthood". BBC News.
External links
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- British television presenters
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- Living people
- English people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent
- Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
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