vanniasingam was born on 12 october 1911. he was the son of v. coomaraswamy, a proctor and tamil scholar from tellippalai in northern ceylon. vanniasingam's brother was c. balasingam, the deputy secretary to the treasury. vanniasingam was educated at mahajana college, tellippalai and jaffna hindu college. after school vanniasingam joined the ceylon university college, graduating in 1933 with a b.a. degree.