Shivanthini Dharmasiri

Shivanthini Dharmasiri (born c. 1970) is a Sri Lankan science graduate who was crowned as Miss Sri-Lanka at the premier beauty pageant held on March 31, 1996, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shivanthini migrated to the UK in 1976 with her family and has had the opportunity to experience cultures of both the East and West. During her time in Sri Lanka she attended Ladies College in Colombo and in the UK, Cyfarthfa High School in Merthyr Tydfil.

Shivanthini comes from a family of doctors, her father, uncle, brother and sister-in-law all being in the medical profession. She chose science subjects for her A Levels and went on to specialize in microbiology at the University of Wales where she achieved a BSc Hons degree.

Shivanthini was 18 when she entered her first beauty pageant. She was placed first runner up at the 1989 Kumari (Queen of) Sri-Lanka Contest held in London. Further to her success she modeled for top Sri-Lankan fashion designers under the tutelage of Seneka De Silva and Lou Ching Wong. In 1996 Shivanthini competed in and won the prestigious Miss Sri-Lanka title in addition to the mini titles Miss Personality and Miss Internet.

In May 1996 she represented her country at the Miss Universe Pageant, Las Vegas. She introduced herself: "Ayubowan (Ayu = Life, bo = Long, wan = May you have " May you Have a Long Life"), from Sri-Lanka where the spirit of the people builds a brighter future I am Shivanthini Dharmasiri " alluding to the tenacious spirit of the people of Sri-Lanka determined to succeed despite the difficult period of civil unrest at that time.

Upon her return Shivanthini headlined at the Shades of Sri-Lanka cultural show in Abu Dhabi and more recently she was a judge at the 2010 Miss Sri-Lanka World Pageant.

Shivanthini enjoyed 10 years in the UK pharmaceutical industry working in sales as a healthcare development manager. She is divorced and has two children Lachlan and Ysabella and is resident in the UK.

Shivanthini no longer works. She was previously a Sales Person for Numark Ltd - a company representing 2500 independent pharmacies in the UK.