73 Facts About Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the world's first female prime minister when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike chaired the Sri Lanka Freedom Party from 1960 to 1994 and served three terms as prime minister, two times as the chief executive, from 1960 to 1965 and from 1970 to 1977, and in a presidential system from 1994 to 2000, governing under the presidency of her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was then unseated by Senanayake in the 1965 election and became Leader of the Opposition, before winning a large majority in 1970 due to a cleverly structured election alliance with rival Marxist parties.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike attempted to reform the former Dominion of Ceylon into a socialist republic by nationalising organisations in the banking, education, industry, media and trade sectors.

In 1975, Sirimavo Bandaranaike created what would eventually become the Sri Lankan Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, appointing the first woman to serve in the Sri Lankan Cabinet aside from herself.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike's tenure was marked by inadequate economic development at the national level.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike played a large role abroad as a negotiator and a leader among the Non-Aligned Nations.

When she was allowed to return as a public figure in 1986, Sirimavo Bandaranaike opposed the Indian intervention, believing it violated Sri Lankan sovereignty.

When her daughter, who succeeded her as party leader, won the 1994 presidential election, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was appointed to her third term as prime minister and served until her retirement in 2000, two months prior to her death.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike first attended a private kindergarten in Balangoda, moved briefly in 1923 to the primary classes of Ferguson High School in Ratnapura, and was then sent to boarding school at St Bridget's Convent, Colombo.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the treasurer of the Social Service League, serving in that capacity until 1940.

In 1941 Sirimavo Bandaranaike joined the Lanka Mahila Samiti, the country's largest women's voluntary organisation.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike participated in many of the social projects initiated by the Mahila Samiti for the empowerment of rural women and disaster relief.

Over time, Sirimavo Bandaranaike served as the treasurer, vice-president, and eventually president of Mahila Samiti, focusing on issues of girls' education, women's political rights, and family planning.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was a member of the All Ceylon Buddhist Women's Association, the Cancer Society, the Ceylon National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, and the Nurses Welfare Association.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was appointed Minister of Health and served as Leader of the House, but became increasingly frustrated with the inner workings and policies of the United National Party.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike campaigned for her husband in Attanagalla, in her home town of Balangoda, and in Ratnapura for the Freedom Party.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was shot multiple times by a Buddhist monk, disgruntled over what he believed to be lack of support for traditional medicine.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike accompanied her husband to hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds the following day.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike reluctantly agreed to run as an independent candidate, but before the election could be held, Parliament was dissolved, and she decided not to contest the seat.

In May 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was unanimously elected party president by the executive committee of the Freedom Party, although at the time she was still undecided about running in the July election.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike toured the country and made emotional speeches, frequently bursting into tears as she pledged herself to continue her late husband's policies.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike's actions earned her the title "The Weeping Widow" from her opponents.

On 21 July 1960, following a landslide victory for the Freedom Party, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was sworn in as the first female prime minister in the world, as well as Minister of Defence and External Affairs.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike nationalised banking, foreign trade, and insurance, as well as the petroleum industry.

In taking over the Bank of Ceylon and establishing branches of the newly created People's Bank, Sirimavo Bandaranaike aimed to provide services to communities with no previous banking facilities, spurring local business development.

In December 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike nationalised all the parochial schools that were receiving state funding.

In January 1961, Sirimavo Bandaranaike implemented a law making Sinhala the official language, replacing English.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike's response was to declare a state of emergency and send in troops to restore peace.

The changes caused by Sirimavo Bandaranaike's policies created an immediate shift away from the Anglophilic class system, power structures, and governance, significantly influencing the composition of the officer corps of the civil service, armed forces, and the police.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was neither "removed from office nor did he resign".

Sirimavo Bandaranaike agreed to answer questions about his suspected involvement once he was replaced.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike worked to maintain good relationships with both India and Russia, while keeping ties to British interests through the export of tea and supporting links with the World Bank.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was a key player in reducing tensions between India and China after their 1962 border dispute erupted into the Sino-Indian War.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike then travelled with Ghanaian Justice Minister Kofi Ofori-Atta to India and Peking, China in an attempt to broker peace.

Also in 1964, Sirimavo Bandaranaike's government abolished the independent Ceylon Civil Service and replaced it with the Ceylon Administrative Service, which was subject to government influence.

In preparation for the second Non-Aligned Conference, Sirimavo Bandaranaike hosted presidents Tito and Nasser in Colombo in March 1964, but continued domestic unrest caused her to suspend parliamentary sessions until July.

In September 1964 Sirimavo Bandaranaike led a delegation to India to discuss the repatriation of the 975,000 stateless Tamils residing in Ceylon.

The opposition and Sirimavo Bandaranaike's critiques claimed that the move was to muzzle a free press and strike at her major critic, the Lake House Group led by the press baron Esmond Wickremesinghe.

The government of Sirima Sirimavo Bandaranaike lost the throne speech by one vote and a general election was called for in March 1965.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike regained power after the United Front coalition between the Communist Party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and her own Freedom Party won the 1970 elections with a large majority in May 1970.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike introduced policies requiring that permanent secretaries in the government ministries have expertise in their division.

In September 1970, Sirimavo Bandaranaike attended the third Non-Aligned Conference in Lusaka, Zambia.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike announced that her government would not recognise Israel until the country peacefully settled its problem with its Arab neighbours.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike officially granted recognition to East Germany, North Korea, North Vietnam, and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike opposed the development of an Anglo-US communications centre in the Indian Ocean, maintaining that the area should be a "neutral, nuclear-free zone".

Sirimavo Bandaranaike established a National Committee of Reconstruction to re-establish civil authority and provide a strategic plan for dealing with those captured or surrendered insurgents.

In 1972, Sirimavo Bandaranaike introduced major land reforms in Sri Lanka, with the enactment of the Land Reform Act of No 01 of 1972 which imposed a ceiling of twenty hectares on privately owned land, this was later followed up by the Land Reform Act in 1975 that nationalized plantations owned by public companies.

Still dependent on foreign assistance, goods and monetary aid from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Hungary, and the World Bank, Sirimavo Bandaranaike eased the austerity programmes that limited importation of consumer goods.

In 1974, Sirimavo Bandaranaike forced the shut-down of the last independent newspaper group, The Sun, believing their criticism was fuelling unrest.

In recognition of International Women's Year in 1975, Sirimavo Bandaranaike created an agency to focus on women's issues, which would later become the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike appointed the first woman to serve in the Sri Lankan Cabinet, Siva Obeyesekere, first as First State Secretary for Health and later as Minister of Health.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was feted at the UN World Conference on Women hosted in Mexico City, attending as the only woman prime minister elected in her own right.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike stepped into the one-year term of chair at the 5th Conference of the Non-Aligned Nations in 1976, hosting the meeting in Colombo.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike retained her parliamentary seat in Attanagalla in the 1977 general elections.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was expelled from parliament, but maintained her role as party leader.

Against this backdrop, Sirimavo Bandaranaike decided to run in the 1988 presidential election.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was narrowly defeated by Ranasinghe Premadasa, who succeeded Jayewardene as president.

On 6 February 1989, while campaigning for the Freedom Party in the 1989 general election, Sirimavo Bandaranaike survived a bombing attack.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was successfully re-elected to parliament in the Gampaha Electoral District.

Anura supported the move, but his mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, spoke against the plan.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike came out in support of his evidence, but Udugampola was charged for cultivating public hostility against the government.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike's defection left Bandaranaike and Kumaratunga in charge of the Freedom Party.

The Alliance won a decisive victory, and Sirimavo Bandaranaike announced that Kumaratunga would become prime minister.

Mentally alert but suffering from a foot ailment and complications from diabetes, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was confined to a wheelchair.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike died on 10 October 2000 of a heart attack at Kadawatha, as she was heading home to Colombo.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike had been casting her vote in the parliamentary election, which had been held that day.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike's remains lay in state in the parliament, and her funeral subsequently took place at Horagolla, where she was interred in the mausoleum, Horagolla Sirimavo Bandaranaike Samadhi, originally built for her husband.

At a time in history when the idea of a woman leading a country was almost unthinkable to the public, Sirimavo Bandaranaike helped raise the global perception of women's capabilities.

The Sirimavo Bandaranaike marriage helped break down social barriers in Sri Lanka over the years, through the Socialist policies they enacted.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike worked to forge alliances between the countries in the Global South, and sought to resolve issues diplomatically, opposing nuclear expansion.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike's appointment of the first woman minister, Siva Obeyesekere, to the Sri Lankan Cabinet in 1976, was less than revolutionary due to the fact that Obeyesekere was a relative of Bandaranaike's.

That appointment followed a pattern of Sirimavo Bandaranaike appointing family members to high government positions.